


That Unsettled Feeling

by Talis_Borne



Series: Nimueh’s Spell [8]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Angst, Arthur Knows, BAMF Merlin, Bromance, Canon Divergence, Ghosts, Uther/Arthur fighting, post series 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-16
Updated: 2014-10-04
Packaged: 2018-02-13 10:35:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2147463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talis_Borne/pseuds/Talis_Borne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Despite the knights’ support, Arthur is still uncertain about making use of Merlin’s magic.  Doing so goes against everything his Father raised him to believe and sets him at odds with the King.  Yet it seems the right course even if it’s not an easy one and Arthur is about to realize he can no longer afford uncertainty.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Nimueh’s Spell uses Merlin series 1-3 as cannon and ignores the events of successive series, though characters from later in the series do appear.
> 
> I don’t own the rights to the Merlin TV series and I’m not intending to make any money off these stories. This is strictly for sharing between friends.
> 
> Thanks to Res for all her encouragement!

The knights had managed to leave Camelot before the sun had fully risen. It looked to be a lovely day and Merlin hoped the rosy light would lighten Arthur's mood. 

As they topped a rise, the Prince suddenly pulled up. "What is that?" he demanded pointing to Thoal Keep, which was wrapped in a misty shroud of fog that clung to its walls. 

"Looks like someone set my trap off," replied Merlin. 

"Probably some itinerant tinker," huffed Arthur. 

"Probably," agreed Merlin uncomfortably. 

"Well, how do we get in, Sorcerer?" snapped Arthur. 

"We don't, I do," stressed Merlin, dismounting and handing his reins to Percival. 

"Not alone," insisted Arthur. 

"I can't take us all in, Arthur, and I can only dispel the trap from inside once it's been set off," said Merlin looking up at him. 

"I'll go," piped up Gwaine cheekily, dropping out of his own saddle. "You could manage one couldn't you?" 

"There's really nothing you can do…" 

Gwaine interrupted the sorcerer. "Wasn't the question." When Merlin rolled his eyes, Gwaine chided, "Ah come on, I'd like to see you do some magic that isn't aimed at me for a change." 

"You're taking a knight in with you, Merlin. Might as well be Gwaine," drawled Arthur. 

Merlin made a noise of assent and jogged down the hill to the gate, the knight easily keeping up at his side. Merlin slowed, making sure to keep well away from the fog that hung in wispy rolls around the walls of the keep. He held out an arm to keep Gwaine from coming too close, but the knight pulled out his sword and poked at the nearest tendril. "Stop that," said Merlin sharply. 

"Why? Will it come after me?" asked Gwaine teasingly. 

"This mist won't," replied Merlin, hoping that Gwaine would take the hint that that might not be true of all magical mists. Gwaine just shrugged in response and Merlin rolled his eyes. "Put your hand on my belt." 

"Why, Merlin, I didn't know you cared," Gwaine teased. 

Merlin frowned at him. "I need you to stay that close. You breathe any of this and you'll be waking up some time tomorrow." 

"And I thought Arthur woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," said Gwaine, hooking two fingers of his left hand in the back of Merlin's belt. 

Merlin concentrated and recited a spell that sprouted a whirlwind at their feet. As it grew past their knees and waists, it expanded so it encompassed them, the winds striking them hard so that they had to flex their knees to balance against the bluster. By the time the whirlwind reached the height of their faces, they were both standing completely within the vortex and not a breeze touched them. Once it had grown over their heads, Merlin said, "Let's go." 

Gwaine glanced at Merlin, whose eyes were still burning gold, and gulped involuntarily. Merlin closed his eyes and bowed his head and Gwaine could see the strain on his face as the sorcerer touched the winch with his power, raising the portcullis while still maintaining the whirlwind. Merlin tipped his head and smiled slightly at Gwaine. "Should have thought that through better." As they stepped through the gate, their personal tornado sucked the mist into its winds, creating a solid wall of white that traveled with them. Once through, they could see nothing outside the vortex. Gwaine followed along, keeping his sword at the ready, not sure what they might meet. Not only could they not see around them, but the wind buffeted their feet as they walked, the opening at the bottom being barely wide enough to see their feet. Gwaine understood almost at once why Merlin was having him hang on to him. The sorcerer took small quick steps that Gwaine would have quickly outdistanced. Gwaine fell back slightly, letting Merlin lead. Merlin suddenly stumbled and Gwaine yanked him against his shoulder, concerned about what would happen if Merlin fell into the mists. They might neither one of them get out if Merlin fell to his own spell. 

Merlin grabbed at Gwaine briefly and steadied himself. He gave the knight a glance of apology before toeing what he'd tripped on, which turned out to be a man's arm. "Found our trespasser," said Merlin wryly as he sidestepped around the man's hand and then over a sword. Merlin led the way across the courtyard and around the keep wall toward the garden. 

"You had to put the release for the spell all the way out here?" asked Gwaine. 

Merlin shrugged. "That's where the well is." 

Gwaine wasn't sure what Merlin was talking about since there was a perfectly good well just inside the gate. Merlin suddenly stepped up on a large flat stone and drew Gwaine up behind him. Merlin held up his hands and called out in sharp staccato commands. Gwaine felt a change in the air and gripped Merlin's belt more tightly, feeling that he stood too close to the other man but not daring to step away as the whir of the wind increased to a roar. The mists whirling around them coalesced until Gwaine could have believed them to be milk. Then abruptly, they drained away, under the stone the two men were standing on. Silence filled the air and Gwaine let go of a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. 

"You can let go now," smiled Merlin. 

"I'm so glad you don't have much of a temper," said Gwaine, getting down from the stone. He made a bet with himself as to who was attached to the arm they'd found and won it as he rounded the wall and spotted Agravaine lying in the courtyard. Gwaine ran to the gate and motioned the others to join them before returning to Agravaine and poking him with his toe, his sword ready to menace Agravaine into submission as soon as he woke, but Agravaine didn't even stir and his face wore an unhealthy tinge of blue. 

"He won't wake," called Merlin, joining him. 

"Won't he?" asked Gwaine. 

"Not for hours yet, maybe not for a few days, not unless I wake him," said Merlin as Arthur and the rest of the knights arrived. 

Arthur frowned down at his uncle. "You're sure he's not dead?" 

"Shouldn't be," said Merlin, kneeling down to check. "No, he's breathing." 

"Too bad," said Elyan, with a sourness that sounded out of character coming from the mild tempered knight. 

"You have a problem with my uncle, Sir Elyan?" asked Arthur with a stiff formality. 

"You didn't see him last night, Arthur," said Elyan sadly. "He led your father to Morgana and stood there while her men attacked him. 

"You're sure?" asked Arthur, looking like someone had punched him in the gut. 

Elyan's eyes warmed with apology. "He warned Morgana when I threw my knife at her. He's working for her, Arthur." 

"There're some cells down below," supplied Percival. "Even found the keys. That way he wouldn't see us practicing even if he did wake up." 

"Sounds like a good place to put him for the moment, but we're not practicing this morning," said Arthur, shaking himself as though still trying to comprehend what Elyan had said. 

"What are we doing then?" asked Lancelot. 

Arthur looked a Merlin for a long moment. "It doesn't need to be secret does it?" 

"Not from anybody who doesn't want to take my head off for it," replied Merlin with a tilt of his chin and a rise of his eyebrow that bespoke caution. 

Arthur bit his lip before glancing about at his knights. "I asked Merlin to perform a spell for me, one that I saw Morgause use. I need you to make sure we aren't interrupted." 

"Of course," affirmed Kay affably, but then he glanced around as if wondering if he'd spoken out of turn. 

Leon's brow furrowed. "One that… Arthur, you're not thinking of the one that I'm thinking of, are you? Because the last time that spell was cast, you tried to murder Uther." 

"That's one of the reasons for doing this out here," said Arthur. "I need to know, Leon, if … what was told me… was true." He turned abruptly and hurried up the stair, where Merlin had been preparing a space that he could work magic in privacy. 

Leon caught Merlin's arm as he tried to follow Arthur. "Are you sure about this?" he hissed in the sorcerer's ear. 

Merlin frowned at Leon's hand on his arm but his expression softened as their eyes met. "I'm sure this is what Arthur needs. I'm not sure it's a good idea, but then I'm not always in agreement with Arthur's ideas. Just be ready to talk him out of any rash plans, will you?" Merlin pulled out of Leon's grasp and followed Arthur. 

Leon frowned after him before filling the command vacuum Arthur had left. "All right, let's set out sentries, move Agravaine and we should probably drag some of the hay down so he doesn't wake up cold and sore. Not sure what kind of shape Arthur wants him in, but he's still his uncle." 

***********************

When Merlin entered the room, Arthur was nowhere to be seen, but the door on the opposite wall stood open. This door was small and low and the walls of the rampart that it led onto were high, so that the door could not be seen from the ground. If you added a roof, it would be a small room of it's own, without so much as an arrow slit of it's own for light, and perhaps it had been used this way in the past, though at present, it was more of a balcony than a room. Merlin had picked this room partly because he liked the oddness of the rampart and partly because the room had no windows of its own. 

A skeleton of a canopy bed just wide enough for two sat in one corner. Merlin had removed the moldering mattress and burned it as being nothing anyone would want to sleep on or even attempt to clean, though the wood of the bed itself was sound. The canopy had already been missing. At the foot of the bed, set comfortably next to the fireplace, sat a desk and chair, small enough and ornate enough that one might imagine them to have been for a lady's toilette. A double doored wardrobe the height of Merlin's shoulder guarded the wall between the two doors. 

A shadow moved in the light streaming through the open door to the rampart and Merlin decided to leave Arthur alone with his thoughts while he prepared for the spell. He uncrated the dozens of low squat candles he'd brought from Camelot and began spreading them around the room, using the platform of the bed as well as the top of the wardrobe, the mantle and the small desk for places to put them. Then he drew a natural crystal the size of a man's head from it's hiding place in a tangle of kindling in the fireplace and reshuffled some of the candles on the bedframe so it could have pride of place there. 

"You're sure you know what you're doing?" asked Arthur nervously, coming in from outside. 

"Now you think to ask me," responded Merlin, motioning to Arthur to shut the door. An ancient word and flash of Merlin's eyes lit the dozens of candles now strewn around the room. "Yes, Arthur, I know what I'm doing. I've consulted every book I can find and every authority on the subject I could discover. I wasn't about to try this unless I was sure I could do it safely." 

"I meant, is this actually going to work?" grumbled the Prince drily. 

Merlin looked sideways at Arthur, frowning. "Just don't let her wrap you around her little finger like last time." 

"I did not!" said Arthur sharply. 

Merlin shook his head in exasperation. "Remember, you'll only have a few minutes and I can't cast the spell again until the next dark of the moon. So get what you need quickly." Merlin stepped to the end of the bed, close to the wall where he could be out of the way. He spoke to the crystal and it glowed with a bright white light. "Ready?" asked Merlin. Arthur nodded and Merlin said, "Close your eyes." 

Merlin began to chant. A breeze sprang up in the room as the spell finished. As the breeze touched Arthur, he opened his eyes to find the person he most missed from his life standing before him. 

"Mother," breathed Arthur joyfully. 

"My son," called Ygraine stepping toward him eagerly. "I am so pleased to see you. I feared I would never hold you again." Mother and son embraced tightly. 

Arthur pulled back, but kept his arms around his mother. "Mother, I have to know. You said that Father had betrayed you. How?" 

She lowered her eyes and shook her head. "No, no, don't ask me…" 

"Tell him the truth!" ordered Merlin, surging forward a step and catching hold of one of the bed poles as if to stop himself. The crystal beside him still glowed but the light had softened. 

Ygraine turned to him sharply and her whole demeanor immediately changed. Her head came up and her expression became as cagey as a stalking cat. She took a step toward the sorcerer, while holding Arthur's arm still around her waist, bringing him with her. "Very good. I know this spell. Your sorcerer doesn't trust me, Arthur. He thinks I'll lie to you and the light of the crystals will go out." 

"Merlin, what are you doing?" hissed Arthur. "I will not have you insult my Mother." 

"No, no, Arthur, it's all right," Ygraine assured Arthur with a hard smile. "He's doing exactly as he ought, protecting you even from me. I'm pleased to see you've finally accepted my present, despite your father's antipathy." 

"Present?" asked Arthur, confused. 

Ygraine practically purred, "The most powerful sorcerer of your generation. Not much to look at, is he?" 

Merlin's cheeks burned with embarrassment. 

"Merlin?" asked Arthur, a little shocked by the change of subject. "I mean, I know that Merlin has power, but surely not…" 

Ygraine beamed at her son proudly. "Nimueh's spell called the strongest sorcerer of your generation into your service. Of course if he's casting spells without your leave, you should take him in hand. He can do nothing to you. I assure you he's bound as tightly as though he were chained in your dungeon." 

Arthur stared into her eyes, horrified. 

She patted his shoulder, seeing his change of mood. "But you asked me about your Father, and I've no need to lie." Her voice hardened, "Your father did betray me in more ways than one. Uther came to Camelot first as a suitor for my hand, but my father wanted nothing less for me than to be a queen and Uther was not his father's heir. My father refused him. Perhaps I left Uther with too many hopes of my affection. I saw no reason for cruelty. If I had spurned him as I should have perhaps he would not have returned with an army." 

"But the spell," stammered Arthur, "You told me that Father had traded your life for me." 

Ygraine blushed prettily. "There wasn't much time, Arthur. Not nearly enough to explain all that happened. I'm sorry that I gave in to the temptation to simplify events. Every minute Uther sits on Camelot's throne is an insult to my family and a desecration to the land. You were born to overthrow the tyrant. If I had had the raising of you, you surely would have by now." 

Arthur pulled away from her and took two steps back. "You were working with Morgause." 

"To see Uther off my father's throne and you on it, yes I made a temporary alliance with the witch. Her presence was one reason I had to edit events. I would never give her details that would harm you." 

"You might as well be working with Morgana!" shouted Arthur. 

"Never," insisted Ygraine vehemently. "I would never betray you for Uther's bastard." 

"Why should I believe you? Agravaine is working with Morgana." 

Ygraine stepped close to her son and placed a hand on his chest. "Then he betrays me. I married your father to save my brothers' lives. You remind your Uncle of what he owes me. As for why you should believe me, ask your sorcerer. Perhaps it was good that he trusted me not overmuch. He can reassure you. There's so much more to tell you, about your father, about me. But the time is gone, Arthur. Call me again, I beg you." Ygraine touched Arthur's face and she was gone. 

Arthur stood for a moment in shock, then walked out the door onto the rampart. Merlin spoke to the crystal, putting out it's light, and spared a moment of his power to douse the candles before following Arthur. Arthur sat on the stone roof with his knees curled up to his chest. Merlin knelt behind him and wrapped his arms around Arthur's shoulders. 

"Don't," said Arthur dully. 

"Why not?" asked Merlin, leaning his chin on Arthur's shoulder. 

Frustrated, exasperated, Arthur said, "Because nothing you feel for me is real. It's all created by the spell. You just do what you do because you think it's what I'll want." 

Merlin chuckled softly, "Don't try to teach your sorcerer magic, Arthur. The spell commands my loyalty, not my feelings." 

"It's the same thing, isn't it?" 

"No. Even if I hated you, I'd have to be loyal to you, though I'd probably be fighting that as hard as I could, especially knowing about the spell. But I don't hate you. I respect you. You're a good man, Arthur," Merlin shoved against Arthur's shoulders, "even if you do bully me sometimes." 

Arthur ignored the shove. "I heard her. She thinks of you… she intended you to be my slave," he said, mortified by his mother's assumptions. "Are you really bound as tightly as if you were in the dungeon?" 

"Probably," smirked Merlin, "but have you noticed that the dungeon can't actually hold me if I want to get out?" 

"That's not funny, Merlin." 

"But all too true. I doubt I could break Nimueh's spell, but I don't have to surrender to it either. Your mother may think I couldn't do anything to you, but I know that's not true." 

"Really?" asked Arthur sourly. 

"Really," Merlin assured him, moving so that he could sit facing Arthur, his side up against Arthur's knee. "For that matter, I think the spell backfired." 

Arthur sat up straighter, his eyes twitching side to side. "How?" 

Impishly, Merlin said, "Your parents are pretty terrible people, but you're not." 

"Hey!" barked Arthur. 

Coyly Merlin said, "Your Mother tried to enslave me and your Father wants to burn me at the stake. Really, Arthur, can you blame me for not liking your parents?" 

"I suppose not," said Arthur, turning his face away in shame. 

Merlin tilted his head, trying to see Arthur's eyes. "Nimueh's spell binds you to twenty knights chosen for their loyalty above all. So how can you help but have loyalty as your overriding characteristic? And if you are so loyal to something, you want what's best for it. That's what will make you a great king. You don't just want to rule Camelot, you care about the land and the people that make it up." 

"You think so?" asked Arthur miserably. 

"I know so," affirmed Merlin, shoving against Arthur's knees. This time, Arthur shoved back. Merlin grinned at him but Arthur looked away again. "Come on," said Merlin, scrambling up and trying to pull Arthur to his feet. "Let's reassure the others that I haven't bollixed up the spell so badly that the consequences will be dire." 

Arthur reached up and pulled Merlin back down, his gaze abruptly penetrating. "If I ordered you to never use your magic again, could you do it?" 

"What?" asked Merlin, suddenly alarmed. 

"I'm not saying I would do it," Arthur said hurriedly. "But if I did, would that be the end of your magic?" 

Merlin's head shivered back and forth in denial. "Please don't," he begged. 

Arthur rubbed Merlin's shoulders comfortingly but waited silently for Merlin to answer. 

Merlin tried to wet his suddenly dry mouth. He looked away from Arthur. "I don't know. The bonds on me are very powerful, but so is my magic. It would make it more difficult, but if I believed you were in danger, that magic was the only way to save you, I'd almost have to use it." Merlin turned frightened eyes to Arthur. "I don't know what the consequences of that order would be, but I can't imagine it would turn out well for either of us." 

Arthur cupped Merlin's cheek reassuringly with his right hand. "Most powerful sorcerer of my generation?" 

Hesitatingly, Merlin agreed, "That's what your mother said." 

Arthur dropped his hands away from Merlin and got to his feet. "Father thinks that Morgana can just give up her magic and everything can go back to the way it was." He tilted his head at his sorcerer questioningly. 

"Not a chance," said Merlin, getting up, his voice steadying as he realized the question had been more about Morgana than him. "Morgana's powers were out of control before Morgause trained her. Even if your mother's right and I'm the most powerful sorcerer of our generation, Morgana's not far behind. You don't just wish that kind of magic away, and I've no idea how to bind it." 

"Oh, I think you've got some idea. You just don't have it all figured out yet," said Arthur, striding from the room. 

Merlin stared at the Prince's back, wondering if the interview with Arthur's mother had given him an overinflated impression of his power. 

********************

Arthur frowned down at his uncle, who slept on a pile of clean hay. His color had improved, or maybe that was the lack of light in the dungeon cell. Arthur glanced at Merlin. No sense in putting this off any further. "Wake him and walk out," Arthur grumbled at the sorcerer. 

Merlin moved to the cell door before speaking the words which would break Agravaine's enchanted sleep. He ducked out quickly. Agravaine didn't need to know he'd been there. 

Agravaine blinked sleep out of his eyes, coming fully awake as he noticed Arthur looming over him. 

"You have some explaining to do, Uncle," said Arthur in a dangerously soft voice. 

Agravaine's eyes darted around the cell, taking in his surroundings and Sir Percival standing guard just outside the barred gate of the cell. "Arthur! Thank God," said Agravaine, sliding into a sitting position. He groaned and pressed the heel of his hand into his forehead. 

"What are you doing here, Agravaine?" Arthur growled. 

"Here? Are we still at Thoal Keep?" asked Agravaine. At Arthur's nod, Agravaine apologized, "I'm sorry, Arthur. I'm a little muddled. Could I have some water?" 

Arthur's eyes narrowed suspiciously, but he glanced at Percival and nodded at the knight to fetch it. "Answer my question, Uncle." 

Agravaine looked up at Arthur, but finding no pity there, he dropped his gaze to the floor. "I.. I got separated from the others in the battle, Arthur. I had to dodge and duck Morgana's forces for hours. They were constantly between me and Camelot. I thought this would be a good place to hide. But then there was all this mist and I was choking. That's all I remember until I woke just now." 

"Not the way I heard it," said Arthur, his voice hard enough to crush stone. Percival returned with a metal mug of water and started to hand it to Agravaine, but Arthur held up a hand to stop him and took the mug himself. Percival backed off to his previous post as Arthur took a sip. 

Agravaine glanced up at him and went back to staring at the floor. "Did everyone make it back to Camelot alright?" 

"Yes, no thanks to you," replied Arthur, "though Sir Rexford will be laid up a while with a broken leg." 

Agravaine dropped his head into his hands, his fingers clawing through his hair. "I panicked, Arthur. It's been a long time since I've been on a battlefield. I didn't know what to do." 

Arthur could almost believe his uncle. Almost. "You led my Father to Morgana. You were _**seen**_ , Agravaine." 

Agravaine froze for a long moment before he whispered, "He begged me to." 

Arthur grabbed Agravaine roughly by the arm and hauled him to his feet. "He's ill! He doesn't know what he's saying and you handed him over to her!" 

"I hate him," breathed Agravaine, finally meeting Arthur's eyes. "I've been playing his lackey for so many years and I hate him. He wanted to see her, fine, I arranged it, and if she had killed him, so much the better. You would be King and Camelot's throne would be restored to its rightful bloodline through you." 

Arthur shoved Agravaine away and the older man stumbled. He caught himself with one hand on the stone wall. Arthur threw the mug away in frustration and the water spilled over the floor. "That will happen eventually anyway!" 

"The sooner the better to my mind," said Agravaine. "I wouldn't… I wouldn't try to assassinate Uther, but neither will I put myself out to save him from himself." 

Arthur retreated toward the door. He stood turned away with his head down, shaking it. "Is it true that my Mother married my Father to save your life?" 

"Mine and Tristan's, yes," agreed Agravaine. "Uther allowed us to swear fealty to him in exchange for her wedding vows. And we swore so that we could protect our sister. But we couldn't." 

"Mother died birthing me," said Arthur quietly. 

Agravaine snorted. "Her death is on Uther's head, not yours." 

Arthur turned back to his uncle. He protested, "Father loved her." 

"Uther doesn't know how to love. He desired her yes, but he never loved her. What man would take so much from a woman he loved? Our father died in Uther's attack. For all I know, Uther may have been the one to kill him." Agravaine reached out to Arthur, suddenly impassioned. "Listen to me, Arthur. I will tell you what no one else will. I don't ask you to trust me. Ask the older lords, ask those knights who've retired from Camelot's service, ask old Gaius. Your father is not who he pretends to be." 

"And what do you pretend to be?" growled Arthur. 

Agravaine tossed his head back and straightened his shoulders. "Uther's loyal servant. He knows better, but we play the game anyway." 

"And now you'd try to turn me against him?" 

"I don't have to. That fog last night was magic, Arthur. You're using magic." Agravaine's gaze flicked past Arthur momentarily to note that Percival didn't flinch at the accusation, which confirmed Agravaine's suspicion that the knight knew. 

"And if I am?" grated Arthur. 

"Don't think that I object, on the contrary," said Agravaine earnestly. "Uther derides Camelot as a land that was steeped in sorcerery until he conquered us, but that was never a bad thing. Camelot had magic and wonder. It was a fantastic land and Uther ground it down to the mundane. If you've accepted magic, I rejoice!" 

"That doesn't mean I've turned on Father," snapped Arthur. "I simply see the necessity." 

"Fine, fine," assured Agravaine. "But you must go carefully, Arthur. You've no training in dealing with magic. Uther murdered so many magic folk and those that are left may see you as his heir rather than your mother's." 

"Does it make such a difference?" 

"To the magic folk? Certainly. Whatever remnants are left. This sorcerer you've hired…" Arthur gave Agravaine a sharp look. "Oh, come now, Arthur, you can't tell me the man has any love for your father?" Arthur's eyes alone skittered away from the question. "That alone should give you reason to be cautious of the man." 

"He's given me reason enough to trust him, more than you have lately, Uncle." 

Agravaine dropped his eyes. "I suppose I deserve that, Arthur. I walk a fine line in Camelot. Politics are rife and Uther does not trust me." 

"He trusted you enough to walk into Morgana's trap," snapped Arthur. 

Agravaine barked a laugh with no humor in it at all. "He was desperate enough, you mean. I had no choice, Arthur. Uther commanded me to set up that meeting." 

"You could have told me," insisted Arthur. 

"I keep thinking of you as a boy, Arthur. I should know better by now, but I guess I don't." Agravaine looked up at the Prince pleadingly. "I just didn't think of it." 

"Start," said Arthur in a hard voice. "I claim your debt to my Mother, Agravaine. From this moment onward I expect your loyalty - your undivided loyalty. You don't work for my Father. You'll dance attendance on him because it's convenient for me that you do so. If he puts himself in harm's way, you'll defend him with your life because I will it. And if he sends you back to Morgana, I want to know every word she says." 

"You want me to be your spy?" 

"I want you to be my man. I want to know that ties of blood will bind you to me before anyone or anything else." 

"Done!" cried Agravaine enthusiastically. "I know you're angry with me, Arthur, but truly all I ask for is a chance to prove myself." 

The cold menace in the Prince's voice eerily reminded Agravaine of Uther. "You'll get it, Agravaine, of that I have no doubt. Don't fail me."


	2. Chapter 2

It was early, too early, and Arthur had chased Merlin out to finish an assignment at Thoal Keep that made little sense as soon as Merlin had woke him. Cadby's horse shied beside him and Merlin said again, as gently as he could, "Relax, she can feel your fear." 

Cadby took a breath while one of the palace servants behind him snickered. City bred, the young servant had never had occasion to learn to ride, despite his abiding love of horses. The other servants, who rode with them, had all served in the palace for years and had learned to ride passably in one capacity or another. 

"Pat her neck, tell her she's a good girl," suggested Simon, who bounced too much in the saddle, but managed to charm his horse into going the right direction. 

Cadby leaned forward in the saddle to croon in a practiced voice into his mount's ear. The mare settled into an easier pace in response. 

John, a large man who handled his mount a bit more roughly than necessary, pointed a finger at the oxen drawn wagons stopped on the road in front of Thoal Keep; two piled high with hay and one with long sticks. "They're there, as promised." 

"Looks like they've got what we need; must have been up before dawn to get all that loaded," responded Merlin, glad to see that the farmers had obeyed his injunction to stay out of the keep and hadn't set off the mist trap. 

"Just a normal day for famers," snorted John. "The Prince pays well and my brother's not stupid." 

"Nice of him to let us ride, too," grinned Parry, arguably the best rider in the group. 

Merlin thought if Cadby didn't work out as Arthur's new servant, he might ask Parry next. So far, Arthur seemed to be tolerating the young man but that might have something to do with Merlin keeping him mostly out of the way while Arthur got used to having a new servant in his quarters. "Arthur wants this done today." 

"You shouldn't call him that," rasped Felton, a middle aged servant who still managed to keep up with the younger men. 

"Arthur doesn't mind it from me," said Merlin, rolling his eyes. "He gets more annoyed when I call him 'Highness'." 

"Bugger off, Felton," said John. "The Prince sacked me too and you don't hear me taking it out on his servants." 

Merlin had thought John might have suited Arthur because he used to be in the guard before an injury that had left him with a pronounced limp retired him. He glanced at the two sidelong. "I don't know why Arthur sacked either of you." 

"Not your business to know. Nor mine either," snorted John, pulling his horse up alongside the first wagon and dismounting awkwardly. 

The farmer, Esau, joined him and clasped hands with his brother. "You brought it? As we agreed?" 

John pulled his head at Merlin, who wiggled his fingers into his belt pouch and pulled out the coins Arthur had given him that morning. He counted them into the farmer's hand but there were still several silver coins left in his own. Merlin held one up. "I'm to give one for each of you, if you'll stay and help us get this done." 

Esau looked at the coins in Merlin's hand. "And what is it we would have to do?" he asked, having not asked what the Prince would need hay and sticks for the previous day when Merlin and John had come to buy them. 

"Build a hundred straw men," replied Merlin. "If you and your sons would stay, we'd only need to build ten each. Should be able to get it done by the time Arthur arrives, mid-afternoon." 

Esau startled a bit at Merlin's use of Arthur's bare name. But the younger of his two grown sons, Wim, spoke up, "I'll stay for that." 

"You'll miss your mid-day," warned his father. 

"So I'll eat double at supper," retorted the young man. 

"I brought enough for everyone," said Merlin. "There's enough to share out for three more." 

Kenley, who tended to finish off anything left on anyone else's plate, frowned at this, but the farmer agreed, a promised meal sweetening the deal. 

The men set to work twisting the hay into sheaves and braiding them together to form human size figures. Sticks planted in the meadow across from the entrance to the Keep helped the figures stand. "Do we have to set them up in rows?" asked Wim as he completed his first. 

"I don't think so," responded Merlin, tossing his jacket down near one of the wagons. The sun shone bright and hot on the greening earth and everyone was stripping off layers they didn't need. "At least, Arthur didn't say so." 

The farmer's son grinned at this and tried planting his in odd spots; behind a low rise, between two others that were already fairly close together, but his father stopped him from placing one with it's 'head' poking out from behind the tree line. 

At noon, Merlin called a halt and brought out the bags he'd had tied to his saddle. He passed around apples, buns, and wedges of cheese that were a bit sweated from the heat, though Merlin had taken the precaution of leaving them in the shade of one of the wagons. Esau looked at the meal as though something was missing, but bit into his apple without comment. 

His son wasn't so restrained and said uncomfortably, "What about water?" 

"Didn't you bring any?" asked Kenley sharply. 

"Didn't expect to stay," shrugged Wim. 

"Take mine," said Merlin, passing his waterskin over, but it was less than half full as he'd been drinking from it all morning. He suddenly realized that the farmers had had no water since they'd left home that morning. He looked at their flushed faces and realized that all three were dehydrated and in danger of heat exhaustion, the morning having been rather warmer than expected. 

Each of the three farmers took a swallow and Esau passed the waterskin back to Merlin. "Much obliged." 

"No, finish it," said Merlin, refusing to take it back. "You need it." 

John passed his over as well, frowning. "Didn't realize you didn't have your own," he apologized. "We'll have to share out or you three will be in bad shape by the time you get out from under this sun." 

"Mine's near empty now," objected Felton. "Maybe you younger ones can do without, but I need mine. Bet there's a well inside the Keep," he suggested slyly. 

"We were told to stay out of there," protested Esau. 

"We were," stressed Felton, "but Merlin and Cadby are the Prince's servants and they've been inside. Surely he wouldn't object to them going in now." He threw his nearly empty waterskin at Cadby. "Fill that for me, will you, friend?" 

Cadby had half risen to comply when Merlin said firmly, "Don't." Cadby sat back down, relief plain on his face. 

"We can manage," said Simon, passing over his waterskin to the thirsty farmers. 

"Some reason why you can't?" Parry asked Merlin, a glint of suspicion in his eyes. 

"Orders is orders," barked John. 

"There've been rumors," said Kenley in a hushed voice. 

"Which you shouldn't listen to, much less spread," insisted John. 

Merlin had been thinking all this time. The reason they couldn't go in was because of the mist trap, which he could deactivate without them seeing him do it as long as none of them followed him to the portcullis. The problem was that he couldn't raise the gate using his magic and the only other way to get in would be to scale the wall. Not impossible, as the wall was only about twice the height of a man, just unpleasant. Merlin sighed. "Drink up the last of what you have and pass them over empty. I'll refill them." 

"I'll help," offered Cadby. 

"No," said Merlin firmly. "I'll tell Arthur what I did when he gets here. He'll yell at me, but he's used to me disobeying in a good cause. You might get sacked." 

"You sure?" asked Simon. "It's not worth time in the stocks." 

"I'm sure," said Merlin. "It's not worth anyone coming down sick for lack of water." 

When everyone had finished their meal and passed over their waterskins, Merlin slipped them into the now empty apple bag and set off for the Keep. With the mists still contained in the dry well, it was only a matter of muttering a quick spell to seal the trap and at least there were stairs on the inside of the wall. When he returned, most of the men accepted the water gratefully, but he heard Kenley mumble to Parry as he turned away, "Thinks he's better than us, don't he?" 

Merlin pretended not to hear, but Cadby snapped, "Maybe he is. Don't see you volunteering to take a hiding to spare anyone else." 

********************

The servants were just finishing the last two of the straw men when Arthur and the knights came into view. The farmers had already turned their wagons and were just preparing to leave, their oxen plodding for home at what for them was an accelerated pace. Merlin left the others to cross the road and join Arthur at the gate. 

"How long until you're finished?" called Arthur, dismounting. 

"A few minutes," replied Merlin, jogging up to him. Arthur glanced at the portcullis. Merlin followed his gaze but waited until he was close enough to answer quietly before responding to the unspoken question. "I can't raise it with them still here, and I've already been inside. We were short of water, so I went over the wall. Parry asked how you got in and I said one of the knights would do the same." Merlin dropped his eyes. "They're nervous about the keep. Seems there've been some rumors going around town that you are working with a sorcerer and he lives out here." 

Arthur grimaced, but Gwaine asked, "Trap's down?" Merlin nodded and Gwaine grinned. Slapping Percival on the back, he called, "Race you to the top!" as he found hand and footholds on the wall. 

"Oh, no you don't!" said Percival, hauling Gwaine off the wall and taking the lead himself. 

"You're the one I should be sending up to raise the gate," frowned Arthur at his servant. 

"Probably," agreed Merlin, watching the servants who were watching the knights, "but they don't seem to mind." 

Arthur briefly followed Merlin's gaze. "Do you think I should give them some extra for a job well done?" 

Merlin met Arthur's eyes and shook his head. "That would only confirm their suspicions. They'd likely think it was hush money and there's been nothing for them to see." 

Percival and Gwaine laughingly got the portcullis raised, bickering over the whole job. 

"All right, get them sent off then," said Arthur. "I'm going to send some of the knights out after they leave to make sure neither they nor anyone else have a curious streak. Don't tell them that, but you can remind them that these practices are private." 

Merlin mused on that as his feet carried him automatically back to the servants. They'd kept the practices inside the keep's walls for a reason. What Arthur could want with a hundred straw men set up outside those walls, Merlin couldn't guess, but he doubted they were there for the benefit of the knights and the thought of using his magic on such open ground made him uneasy. 

"His Highness wants us gone then?" asked John, driving a stake into the ground and setting up the last straw man as Merlin returned. 

"He does," confirmed Merlin. "Straight back to Camelot." 

"That your saying or his?" asked John forthrightly, wiping his hands. "Was thinking about stopping for dinner with Esau and his family. Don't get out that way too much. Takes too long on just my feet." 

Merlin shook his head. "I wouldn't get off by myself, if I were you. If Arthur thought you'd doubled back…" 

"Could take young Simon here with me," said John. "He's a cousin. Esau wouldn't object to guesting him." 

"Do you really want me to go in there and ask Arthur?" asked Merlin. 

"No," said John, annoyed. "Straight to Camelot it is." 

The servants mounted up and headed out. As Merlin made it back to the gate, Leon, Percival, Kay, and Elyan rode out and scattered to the winds. Merlin had already spotted Arthur atop the battlements, so he quickly climbed the stone stair. Gwaine and Lancelot stood nearby chatting, but Arthur simply surveyed the field of hay statues before him. Merlin took his place beside his master. "Are you going to tell me what this is about, Arthur?" 

Arthur turned to face him and leaned an elbow on the crenel. "It's about you, of course." 

Merlin's eyebrows raised in a look of someone hearing the obvious, a nervous grin tugging at his mouth. "I don't know what you expect me to do with all those, Arthur." 

"Destroy them," commanded Arthur, all seriousness. 

"Just wave my hand and destroy them?" asked Merlin, still unaccountably finding the situation funny. 

"If that's all it takes," said Arthur. 

"It doesn't really work like that, Arthur." 

"I've seen what you can do, Merlin. I want to know your limits." 

"Limits?" laughed Gwaine. "I've got twenty gold that says Merlin gets at least sixty." 

"You don't have twenty gold," cautioned Lancelot. 

"Gwaine, don't," said Merlin becoming concerned. 

"Done. Come on, Merlin. You don't want to let your mate down, do you?" Arthur asked with a wolfish grin. "I know Gwaine doesn't have twenty gold, but I can get it out of him in labor." 

Merlin glared at him. "Knock them down?" 

"Destroy them," repeated Arthur. 

Merlin thought about this for a moment, his eyes flashing with anger. In a deep voice, he barked out a spell and suddenly, the hay figures were surrounded by fire. A second spell growled out of his throat and the crimson flames leaped up and crashed inward, boiling into the sky with a fearsome hiss before settling into a low blaze. 

Arthur straightened up, his mouth dropped open and his eyes widened as though someone had just applied a board to the back of his head. In a strangled voice he commanded, "Now put it out." 

Merlin thought about this order as well, before calling a third spell into the sky. Instantly rain clouds gathered from all quarters like pigs to a trough. Gray clouds tumbled over and under each other, growing darker as they massed together until rain dumped out of the sky in waves rather than drops. 

"Merlin!" squawked Gwaine. "Did you have to drench all of us just because Arthur was being a prat?" 

"Oh, you'll dry," snapped Merlin, heading for the staircase. 

Futilely pushing water off his face, Gwaine said to Arthur, "You owe me twenty gold." 

Arthur just stood there blinking at his knight. 

"Arthur? Arthur?" asked Lancelot, waving a hand in his Lord's face, his voice concerned and reassuring despite the volume needed to be heard over the gushing water. "He just did what you asked, Arthur. That's all." 

"Remind me to piss him off a little less often, would you?" snapped Arthur, coming back to himself. 

"A raise might not hurt either," chortled Gwaine. 

"I'll consider it," growled Arthur through clenched teeth, finally moving to escape the rain just as it found the opening at the nape of his neck and sluiced coldly down his back. 

********************

An explosive roar sounded in the distance behind the servants, causing their mounts to shy and sidle. The men mostly controlled their mounts, but Cadby slid out of his saddle, ending up belly down over it. John hastily grabbed the bridle of the skittering horse, calming her with a firm voice while the younger servant managed to right himself. As soon as he could regain control of the reins, he joined the other servants in looking back down the road they'd been traveling and then up at the rising smoke billowing above the plain where they'd so recently been working. The meadow itself was concealed by low hills, but the dark smoke swelling the skies spoke of disaster. 

"Merlin!" called Cadby in concern. 

John still had ahold of his bridle and prevented him from speeding back the way they'd come. "He's with the Prince," the older servant barked in a rough attempt to comfort, though he looked pale himself. "All those straw men, they must have been for some kind of war games, yeah?" 

"Yeah, war games," parroted Simon in a strained voice. 

"War games, my arse!" said Felton, pointing at blackening clouds rallying from every direction over the source of the smoke. "That's not natural!" 

"It's the Prince's business," insisted John, clearly shaken. 

"That's magic!" interjected Parry, his eyes bulging. "Winds don't come from all directions at once." 

"Sure his Highness is either fighting a sorcerer or testing one," said Kenley in a hushed voice. 

"Testing?" Felton demanded derisively 

"There's been rumors," confirmed Kenley staring at the squall beginning to fountain rain down on the source of the smoke. 

John backhanded Kenley across the side of the head. Kenley cried out and just managed to keep his seat. "It's the Prince's business!" barked the ex-soldier again, "and any one of you that wants to spread those rumors will be dealing me." 

Slyly, Felton suggested, "But if he's fighting a sorcerer, he could need help. We should say." 

"The Prince knows what he's about. Keep your trap shut, Felton," insisted John, but he rolled his shoulders uncomfortably. "Leastwise, as long as his Highness comes back as expected. Suppose if he didn't get back tonight, then maybe we should say something. Not otherwise." 

"Yeah, yeah," agreed Kenley. "The King's as like to banish a servant for tattling on the Prince as he is to reward one, probably more so. Not really our place to say anyway." 

"So we keep shut," agreed Parry, turning his mount for the city. The other servants did likewise. Cadby took one last long look at the unnatural storm clearing smoke from the sky before turning his horse to follow them. 

********************

Gaius sighed, set his bag on the table in anticipation of replenishing its contents, and stretched his back. Merlin's door stood open and Gaius couldn't help but frown at the mess he'd have to remind Merlin yet again to clean up when he returned from waiting on Arthur. Quick squelching steps sounded in the corridor and the door opened behind him. Gaius turned, expecting to see Merlin and ready to chastise him over the state of his room, but it was Arthur standing in the doorway, his hair dark with moisture and damp birches clinging to his legs. "Highness?" bowed Gaius deferentially, wondering at Arthur's appearance as the day had been dry in Camelot. "How can I assist you?" 

Arthur's frown deepened as he closed the door behind him and advanced into the room. "I need a definitive answer, Gaius, as to how much power Merlin actually has. I've been testing him, but that just seems to lead to more questions. If I'm to keep a sorcerer, I have to be positive where he fits in." 

"Come by the fire, Highness, before you catch your death," said Gaius, noticing an evening draft coming through the open window after the heat of the day. He pulled a chair up next to the hearth for Arthur and the Prince sat down heavily, while the old man stirred the embers to life under a tent of tinder. "Where is Merlin anyway?" 

"My chambers," said Arthur absently. "I told him to build up the fire and stay there." The Prince toyed with the silver ring on his finger. "I asked him to do something today that I was sure he couldn't. That he'd be able to do partially, but not all, just to gauge what he can actually do." Arthur looked up at Gaius with a lost stare. "It's amazing what he can do when he gets angry." 

"Yes, I've noticed that myself," said Gaius pulling another chair close to the fire. 

Arthur dropped his head almost between his knees, his hands folded loosely. "He's so powerful, Gaius. No matter what I was told, no matter what I saw, I kept thinking of him as my bumbling manservant." Arthur finally looked up, haunted eyes brimming with doubt. "But he is a hugely powerful sorcerer. Is there anything he can't do?" 

Gaius scoffed lightly. "We all have our limits, Arthur. Merlin is a sorcerer, not a god, though I have seen him do amazing things." Gaius took a breath, aware that Arthur was in need of a more definitive answer. "I believe you know now that your mother had Nimueh summon the most powerful sorcerer of your generation to your service. I doubt Nimueh knew what she'd be getting, since he's proven more powerful than she." Gaius snorted. "I used to think Nimueh was the most powerful sorcerer I would ever meet. I think Merlin came as a great shock to her, when she realized his potential, right before he killed her. I can honestly say that Merlin is more powerful than any other sorcerer I've met." 

"How can that be?" asked Arthur. 

Gaius shrugged. "A certain number of people have a spark of magic in them. From my experience, which is certainly not all encompassing, I might guess around three percent. This spark has to be nurtured and harnessed, spells have to be learned and the principals of magic studied. A few, a very few, out of a hundred of those can do accidental magic. They have to learn just to keep it in check; Morgana being an example. When Merlin arrived in Camelot, he didn't know any spells or the principals of magic, but could do it, instinctively. I've never heard of anyone else who could. His mother told me she had trouble getting him to walk as an infant because he could bring small things to him. I shudder to think what his toddler tantrums must have been like." 

Arthur did shudder at the thought. "So he could undo the spell that binds him?" 

"No," said Gaius with a gentle scoff. "That spell is woven into your being. The only way to break it would be to kill you and that would certainly have consequences for him. But I don't believe he would do that any more than it's likely one of your knights would suddenly decided to plunge a knife into your back. He cares for you and respects you just as they do." Gaius smiled slightly. "Arthur, I've watched over you since you were small. I knew Merlin for what he was as soon as he arrived and I watched him carefully to be certain he wasn't a danger to Camelot. He's had some hesitation at times about using his magic to protect Uther, but never about you or the people of Camelot. If I believed that Merlin was a danger to you, I'd take care of the problem." Gaius rose and went to poke up the fire. 

The hair on the back of Arthur's neck prickled. Slowly he asked, "I thought you said you weren't anywhere near as powerful a sorcerer as he is?" 

Gaius turned around with the poker in his hand, the firelight giving a devilish cast to his cheeks. "I'm not. But Merlin trusts me. And nephew or not, my first loyalty is to Camelot." 

The physician had spoken mildly, but Arthur suddenly became aware of how true it was when he had named Gaius as a defender of Camelot. His mind shied away from how far Gaius might go at need. "So you have no doubts?" 

"None, Arthur," confirmed Gaius. "If my counsel means anything to you, you'll treat Merlin as you would one of your knights; knowing what he can do and confident that he won't do it to you." 

Arthur's lip curled in a grimace. "I've never heard it put quite that plainly before." Arthur bounded from his seat. He might not have heard it put that way before, but there was too much truth in what Gaius advised. Either one trusted a man or not, and though Arthur still had a hard time trusting the sorcerer, he did trust the man. 

"Thank you, Gaius. That was helpful," said Arthur heartily before hurrying on his way. He strode across the courtyard considering Gaius' advice to treat Merlin as one of his knights. He could do that. Merlin was just a knight who fought with unconventional weapons was all, a different fighting style and a hell of a lot of power.


	3. Chapter 3

"…the Half-Dead King," Agravaine finished with a flourish that nearly knocked over his goblet. Dinner had been excellent and now that Morgana had kicked her servants out so that they could talk properly he could fully enjoy explaining to the beautiful Lady all about his latest clever endeavor. 

Morgana had risen and turned away from him during his recitation, pulling back a curtain to look out at the moon. Now she turned back to him, a scowl twisting her beautiful features. "A gossip campaign?" she sneered. "That's your plan?" 

Agravaine deflated slightly and started absently playing with the cutlery left over from their meal as well as the parchment and ink he'd called for earlier. "I work with what means are available." 

"And those are so effective," she scoffed. "We need an army!" 

"I haven't the funds for an army," growled Agravaine, "though you aren't remiss about spending every coper I've managed to save all these years." 

"Morgause managed an army without funds of her own," Morgana seethed. 

Agravaine scoffed, "Morgause had methods I do not and which I would hate to see you employ, my Lady." 

Morgana's chin snapped up angrily. "What are you implying about my sister?" 

"Only that she was willing to use whatever means were within her power to annihilate her nemesis," said Agravaine placatingly. 

Morgana began to pace. "Yes, she was." 

"Political maneuvering may be slow, but it is effective, my Lady." 

A false sweetness flavored Morgana's tone. "Then why aren't you sitting on Camelot's throne?" 

"Because Uther banished me to my estate right after Tristan died. He wouldn't trust me then. He doesn't trust me now, but at least he tolerates me and that's really all I need to work his destruction." 

"And Arthur?" she questioned sharply. 

"Arthur works his own doom," chuckled Agravaine. "I don't even have to pay for gossips there. The only one in Camelot who doesn't know that Arthur's employed a sorcerer is Uther. Unfortunately, no one would dare accuse the Prince, not even me." He raised a pointed eyebrow at the sorceress. 

Morgana hummed low in her throat and turned away from him, pacing back to her seat. 

"If people didn't believe it before, they seem more inclined since an unnatural rainstorm put out a perfectly circular grass fire in front of the gates of Thoal Keep." 

Morgana snorted. "Tricks." 

Agravaine hesitated. "That magical mist I ran into was no mere trick, nor is the enchantment on the daggers. I know enough to know powerful magic when I see it." 

"But not to find the traitor who cast it," snapped Morgana. 

"He must be very good at hiding to have survived under Uther's rule," said Agravaine soothingly. 

"He'll have to be even better to survive under mine," growled Morgana. 

Agravaine leaned back and put his feet up on the table. "We may not have to wait too long for the end of Uther's rule, though you will still have to contend with Arthur." 

"What do you know?" she demanded in a tone that also asked why he'd waited so long if he had something juicy to divulge. 

Agravaine smiled cockily. "I know that Uther is sleeping more than ever since your encounter with him and that when he's awake, he and Arthur are mostly at it hammer and tongs. How Arthur's managed to avoid the dungeon, I'm not sure, other than that Uther is simply too exhausted to order it. He truly is a half-dead king." 

"I would rather he was wholly dead," she grumbled. 

Agravaine leaned toward her conspiratorially. "Perhaps your magic can manage that, my Lady. How hard can it be to kill someone who's half way there already?" 

She gave him a simpering and patently false smile. 

Pushing parchment and ink toward her, he said, "In the meantime, there's still Arthur to deal with." 

********************

Agravaine schooled his countenance into a fearful reluctance as he passed under the portcullis to the castle. He chaffed with impatience but didn't dare give in to it. He needed to win Arthur's confidence, however wary, just as he had with Uther. Neither would ever trust him fully, they weren't fools, but they were family, and he traded ruthlessly on those ties. 

Trotting into the courtyard, Agravaine spotted Gwaine entering the palace. Perfect. The chances of Gwaine actually doing anything Agravaine asked were next to nil, so he could hardly be blamed when his message went astray. "Sir Gwaine," called Agravaine agitatedly. 

Gwaine's eyes narrowed. "What do you want, Agravaine?" he asked insolently, walking down the steps to meet him. 

Agravaine hopped off his horse, but kept the reins, ignoring the servant who instantly came to take them. He hissed, "Tell Arthur he's needed in the King's presence at once. Morgana's sent Uther another letter." 

"Arthur will want to see it," said Gwaine. 

Agravaine stopped just short of rolling his eyes. "And break the seal so Uther will know his son is reading his mail? I think not, but he should be there when Uther reads it." 

Gwaine's suspicious sidelong glance told Agravaine just what he thought of the Lord's loyalty. But the knight mounted the stairs, intending to find Arthur or not, either way would serve Agravaine. 

Agravaine waited until Gwaine disappeared before pulling the letter and a package of wrapped cloth about the length of a lady's forearm from his saddlebags and turning over his reins to the waiting servant. He made no effort to hurry his steps, pausing to ask the King's whereabouts from a guard. When he reached the council chamber where Uther sat alone at the long council table, he paused again to look around as though wishing Arthur would appear before entering. He even went so far as to stop just barely inside the door though in truth this uncharacteristic behavior could only draw the King's attention, while looking very much like Agravaine was delaying the inevitable until Arthur could arrive. It wasn't a moment before Uther spotted him and called him forward. 

Agravaine bowed to Uther. "Sire, I bring a letter and parcel from the Lady Morgana," he said simply, handing the monarch both. 

Uther left the parcel on the table and eagerly tore open the seal. At that moment, Arthur arrived at a run, followed by Gwaine and Merlin. They slowed at the double doors, Arthur approaching his Father at a respectful pace. Agravaine made way for him. Merlin touched Gwaine's arm and glanced back out into the corridor. Gwaine frowned but took the hint and stepped back out to wait. Merlin dropped his eyes and shuffled over to stand to one side of the great doors, the picture of an obedient servant. 

Uther ignored them all initially, his face purpling as he read the letter. When he looked up, a shout died in his throat at seeing Arthur standing before him. He glared for a moment while his mind changed tracks. Rising from his seat, he growled, "I thought I told you to stay away from your sister?" 

"I have, Father," replied Arthur, somewhat taken aback. 

"Then what is this?" demanded Uther, shoving the parcel down the table at his son. 

Arthur shrugged. "I don't…" 

"Open it!" commanded the King. 

Arthur unrolled the cloth bundle. Out fell two daggers. 

"Morgana says they belong to two of your knights and that they're enchanted." 

Arthur tried to play innocent. "I don't know where she could have gotten that impression." 

The King stepped up close to his son, his teeth grinding. "She's a sorcerer. I think she knows magic when she sees it. Particularly, if it's meant to work against her own." 

"Is that what she's telling you?" 

"Dam it, Arthur," said Uther, slapping the table in his anger, "You as much as told me you intended to find a sorcerer of your own. You have haven't you? Tell me the truth!" 

"And if I have?" asked Arthur, crossing his arms over his chest. 

Uther's eyes widened. He turned and paced away from his son before turning back and throwing his hands in the air. "Are both my children mad?" 

"Morgana might be," replied Arthur irreverently. "I'm just trying to find a way to defend Camelot." 

Uther came back to his son and put his hands on Arthur's shoulders, shaking him slightly. "Arthur, you can't defend Camelot with magic. Sorcerers don't care about other people. They're loners with goals that make little or no sense. They have no honor and you can't trust one." 

"Then why do you want Morgana back?" Arthur deadpanned. 

Uther's hands slipped from his son's shoulders. "She's my daughter." Uther turned his back to Arthur and put his head in his hands. Arthur made shooing motions at Merlin and at Agravaine. Each bowed reluctantly and left, Merlin pulling the doors closed behind him. Uther sagged into his chair. 

Arthur went down on one knee before his Father, his hands resting on Uther's knee. Beseechingly, he said, "Father, please, I know you don't trust magic, but I've found someone I can trust." 

"You don't know that." 

"I do know that. He's saved my life more than once. He's saved all of Camelot more than once." 

"He says." 

"There are witnesses." 

"Those common born knights of yours?" 

"Among others, yes," said Arthur, trying to keep his frustration out of his voice. 

Uther suddenly looked very old and tired. Thin and reedily, he groaned, "It's all tricks, Arthur. All of it." 

"Father, please, I am begging you to trust me." 

Uther stroked Arthur's cheek and into his hair. With a thin smile he said, "You're so young, Arthur, so trusting." 

"I'm not, Father," said Arthur frowning. 

"You'll learn," said Uther softly, almost dreamily. 

"I'm being careful," said Arthur, affronted. 

Uther frowned. "Careful isn't enough with magic. The only safety is to eschew it completely." 

Arthur tried to reassure him. "It will be fine, Father. Mother made it sure." 

Uther drew back, shocked. "Your mother died of magic!" 

"She also made sure I'd have the protection of magic," said Arthur. 

"Arthur, whatever this sorcerer has told you, it's a lie, all of it." 

Arthur shook his head, insisting, "I saw her." 

"No." 

Arthur tried to take his Father's hand, but Uther didn't allow it. "I saw her. He called her for me." 

"An illusion, nothing more." 

"Father…" 

"No!" Uther abruptly leaned forward and stroked Arthur's cheek again, tilting his chin up. Softly, he said, "My poor dear boy, I will make this right again." Then he called loudly for his guards. Arthur rose hastily to his feet as the double doors opened. Gwaine and Agravaine came in, followed by the two guards who'd been in the corridor. Uther rose from his throne, his voice shaky with emotion. "Take Prince Arthur to the dungeon." 

"What?" demanded Arthur, shocked at his Father's sudden change of mood. 

"I'm going to take care of this, Arthur," said Uther determinedly. "Merlin can make you comfortable, as comfortable as possible, but I need you out of the way while I find this sorcerer of yours." 

Arthur started to say something, then threw up his hands in resignation. "Fine. Happy hunting, Father. You won't find him." He motioned Gwaine close as he passed through the doorway and murmured something into the knight's ear. 

"Don't you dare warn him!" shouted Uther, pointing at Gwaine. 

With a mocking bow, Gwaine said, "I don't need to, Sire. Arthur's right. You won't find him." He hurried away to do Arthur's bidding. 

Arthur called Merlin sharply and the servant followed his master and the two guards away. 

Uther sat down heavily on his low throne. 

Hesitantly, Agravaine asked, "Should I…?" pointing after Gwaine. 

"No," said Uther, motioning with his hand as though swatting away a fly. "Arthur's neither that obvious nor that stupid. Whatever he's sent Gwaine after, it's not likely to be his sorcerer." 

"No, Sire," agreed Agravaine diffidently, "he'll send Merlin to the sorcerer." 

"What?" growled Uther. 

Cautiously, Agravaine said, "It's taken me a while to work it out, Sire, but I'm quite certain of it now." 

"I'm too tired for this game, Agravaine." 

Agravaine approached his Lord. "Merlin lied to me a while back. He said he wasn't allowed out of the great room while the knights were practicing at Thoal Keep, but he was in armor when the knights intervened between me and Kay. No need to be in armor in the great room and I think we both know that Arthur is practicing with his sorcerer at Thoal Keep." 

Uther stared at him hawk-eyed for a moment. "You think he's using his servant to communicate with his sorcerer?" 

Agravaine dropped his eyes and shrugged away. "I'm sure I should have told you sooner, Sire, but I couldn't be sure there was a sorcerer, not until Morgana's letter, and I didn't want to accuse Arthur of any wrongdoing without absolute proof." 

Uther snorted, disbelievingly. 

Agravaine sagged, as if mortified by his report. "It wasn't until I caught Merlin in his lie that I realized… but I really should have been suspicious earlier." 

"Agravaine…" said Uther warningly. 

Agravaine straightened abruptly. "As unwilling as I am to implicate my nephew, I have no such compunctions about his servant. I… the night you retook your throne, I spent the night outside Arthur's door, thinking that after his defense of the dragon lord to you, he'd go to warn him. But he didn't. He went to bed early. It was only recently that I realized why." 

Uther drew a breath to chastise Agravaine again for making him drag information out of him, but the Lord quickly continued. "Arthur went to bed early so that Merlin would be free run an errand for him." 

"Straight to the dragon lord?" asked Uther sternly. 

"That's what I believe, Sire," said Agravaine bowing his head. 

Uther scowled. "Bring Merlin to me, but wait until he's away from Arthur." 

********************

Gwaine skidded into the knight's hall, where he'd been heading when Agravaine had hailed him. Though the knight's hall was nearly as wide and as long as the banquet hall above, it never seemed to have much space in it even when few knights occupied it due to the scattered tables and benches, various shields and trophies on the walls and the ceilings low enough for most of the knights to reach up and touch without stretching. This was no place for ceremony, but rather a place for the knights to gather, gamble, brag, and generally relax. At the moment, nearly half the knights of Camelot had crowded into the trophy strewn room for their evening meal. Meaty smells came from the two cauldrons of stew, freshly sliced bread spilled across a cutting board, and tureens of fresh vegetables steamed next to a half dozen pies. A few of the knights kept personal servants who served them, but most served themselves from the laden sideboard. 

"Pull up a seat," called Percival as he was sitting down next to Leon, Lancelot and Elyan with a laden plate. 

Gwaine threaded his way to them and grabbed a hunk of bread from Percival's plate, ignoring his protests as he dipped it into his stew and stuffed a considererable bite into his mouth. He didn't sit down. "I'll eat on the run, thanks," Gwaine said around his food. "Uther's sent Arthur to the dungeon for conspiring with a sorcerer." 

"He's what?" demanded his friends, rising off their benches. Tableware clattered at the surrounding tables as knights reacted with varying degrees of shock to Gwaine's words. Two knights actually spit out what they'd been drinking while those who'd missed the sense of Gwaine's announcement looked around in consternation, trying to divine the trouble. 

Around another bite of bread and stew, and raising his voice to be heard by all those now so obviously listening, Gwaine said, "You heard me. Morgana sent Elyan and Lancelot's daggers to Uther with a letter claiming they'd been enchanted and blaming Arthur for using magic against her. Uther sent Arthur to the dungeon and swears he's going to find Arthur's sorcerer. Arthur wished him luck and told him he wouldn't find anything." 

All of the knights glanced at each other, but it was Elyan who voiced their collective thought. "What do we do?" 

"I'll tell you what I'm going to do," said Gwaine, washing the last of the bread from his mouth with Lancelot's ale. "I'm going to the dungeon and keeping a hold of the key. Arthur may have agreed to go quietly, but if Morgana thinks she can take advantage of Arthur being out of action she's got another thing coming. If there's so much as a hint of an attack that door will be open and Arthur will have his sword." 

"That's hardly your decision," called Sir Rexford from the next table, stunned at the news and Gwaine's rebellious manner. 

"Do you want Arthur locked up if Morgana attacks?" demanded Gwaine sarcastically. Rexford made a face and pursed his lips together, clearly shutting up. Gwaine glared at him a moment before turning to Leon. "Leon, Arthur wants you to attend Uther." 

"Why didn't you say so at once?" demanded Leon, sliding out from the bench. 

"'Cause I don't know what he wants you to do," said Gwaine as the two knights hurried out of the hall. 

"Arthur isn't really keeping a sorcerer, is he?" asked Sir Kirkley. Arthur's knights attempted to ignore the question as the hubbub in the hall started up again but Kirkley touched Lancelot's shoulder and repeated it. 

Lancelot attempted to bluff. "Why would you ask such a question?" 

"There've been rumors…" said Kirkley, white faced. 

Lancelot placed a hand on the young knight's shoulder. "A knight should never let himself be frightened of rumors. If Arthur was keeping a sorcerer, don't you think he'd have good reasons and be able to manage the man? Arthur is the greatest knight in Camelot." Glancing around he raised his voice slightly, "And I defy any one to refute that." When no one did and most turned back to their own dinners, Lancelot again met Kirkley's eyes. Kindly, he said, "You just concentrate on doing your duty and let Arthur worry about the business of the kingdom." 

Kirkley just bit his lip and returned to his seat, while whispered growls made the rounds of the tables. 

********************

Leon dropped to a sedate pace as he approached the audience chamber. He took a lungful of air to calm his breathing as he peered around the temporarily unguarded door. Two guardsman appeared at the other end of the corridor, most likely to take the positions abandoned by those Uther had ordered to take Arthur to the dungeon. Leon stepped through before they could arrive. 

Uther was pacing but turned sharply at the sound of Leon's entry. "Ah. Arthur sent you to nursemaid me, I see," Uther said harshly. "I hardly need it, no matter how much practice you've had at the role." 

Leon bowed his head, blushing slightly. "It was an honor to attend his Highness when he was a child, almost as much as it is now to serve under him." 

Uther began his pacing again, whipping back and forth, agitated. "Arthur is a child. He's too young for the responsibilities he's taken on. I should have seen that before now. I thought my council would see that and restrain him from doing anything foolish while I recovered." 

Leon took a step toward his King, his breath taken away by Uther's rant. "Sire, Arthur is a man and your greatest warrior. He's proven himself to the council and the people as a just and wise leader. You could have left Camelot in no better hands." 

Uther stopped and faced the knight. "And what would you know of that?" 

"I've been on your council for three years…" 

"Maybe that should change," snapped Uther. 

"Have I done something to offend?" asked Leon, trying to read some sense in Uther's attitude, but finding none. 

"Offend?" demanded the King, biting off the word. "How long has my son been keeping a sorcerer, and how long have you known about it?" 

Gwaine had given Leon a more accurate rendition of Arthur and Uther's conversation when they were no longer being overheard by half the knights of Camelot so Leon knew better than to pretend innocence. He drew the dagger Merlin had given him from his boot and offered it to his sovereign hilt first. Uther snorted at the sight of it and turned away. "I've known for several weeks, though I don't think Arthur's known the man was a sorcerer for much longer than that." 

"He should have killed him the moment he found out," insisted Uther. 

"He had other priorities, most notably protecting Camelot from Morgause," Leon deliberately avoided mention of Morgana, though he doubted he could keep her out of the conversation for long. 

"He should have worried about protecting his sister from Morgause," exploded Uther over his shoulder. "If she hadn't been able to kidnap Morgana and brainwash her, none of this would have happened." 

"Morgana was already Morgause's ally…" 

"And who told you that?" demanded Uther, turning sharply to face the knight, his eyes wild and his voice rough with emotion. "He did, didn't he? He's got his hooks into my son and he's spreading lies about my daughter." 

"It makes sense," insisted Leon. 

"Yes, of course it makes sense. You're under his spell too." 

"My King, listen to yourself, please. No sorcerer can control all the knights of Camelot, or even a handful. One or two, maybe, but Arthur has more than half a dozen sets of eyes on his sorcerer. He's taking every possible precaution and the man has objected to none of them." 

"That only means he knows he can circumvent them," insisted Uther. 

It was at that moment that Merlin arrived at a run. 

********************

Agravaine waited in the corridor, leaning casually against the wall by Arthur's door, wondering how best to cozen the Prince's servant. Merlin was too used to insults and orders, so Agravaine thought he'd be more susceptible to soft words and flattery, if only he would get here. Absently, he fingered his wallet. There were several ways he could play his gift and he turned over each in his mind for it's potential effectiveness. Merlin didn't seem the type to be particularly susceptible to bribery, but perhaps… It was well that Agravaine had leaned so close to the door or he might have missed hearing another open within the Prince's room followed by booted footsteps. Of course, the servant would use the antechamber door. Agravaine tamped down on the moment of frustration and pushed open the door gently, a slight smile that did nothing to warm his features plastered on like a mask. 

Merlin looked up from where he knelt before the wooden chest at the end of Arthur's bed, his arms full of blankets he'd just removed from it. He scrambled warily to his feet. "My Lord?" 

Agravaine held up a hand in a placating gesture, as he pushed the door closed behind him. "The King wishes to see you, Merlin," he said gently, thinking that Merlin looked as unfinished as young horse ready to be trained to halter. 

"Of course," said Merlin side-stepping as though he'd go around Agravaine. 

Agravaine side-stepped to block him and Merlin stopped, his chin going up suspiciously. "He's not expecting you quite yet, Merlin. There's enough time for us to have a little talk first." 

"I didn't know you talked to servants," said Merlin, caution radiating from every line of his tense limbs. 

Agravaine smiled a bit more broadly. "I don't lower myself normally, that's true, but you aren't just any servant. Arthur trusts you, confides in you." He took a light step forward and Merlin stepped back in response. "I only want to help Arthur, to prove my loyalty to him." 

"I know where your loyalty lies, Agravaine," snarled Merlin. 

Agravaine didn't let Merlin's antipathy bother him. He'd expected it and still felt he could persuade the foolish boy. "Arthur needs all the help he can get right now. Uther is quite determined to track down his sorcerer. I know Arthur will send you to warn the man. Uther's figured that out too. He expects me to follow you." 

"Thanks for the warning," growled Merlin. 

"Of course I have no intention of turning Arthur's sorcerer over to the King and I never did." 

"You've been looking for him hard enough." 

"For my own purposes, it's true." Agravaine glanced briefly at his feet with a self-depreciating smile. "Did you know that I studied magic myself when I was younger?" At Merlin's disbelieving glance, he continued, "I was never any good at it. I don't have the spark that makes a sorcerer, neither did Ygraine or Tristan, but oh how I wished I had. When Uther began his war on magic, I managed to save a few relics; a score of books, a few magical trinkets. I couldn't do much, but I also couldn't let Uther stamp out the heart and soul of Camelot and remake it in his own brutal image without some resistance." 

Merlin snorted. 

Agravaine fixed the servant with an earnest gaze. "This sorcerer is important to me, Merlin. Why do you think I so wanted to meet with Morgana? She and I both hate Uther, but if she could have been welded to Arthur's side, magic could return to Camelot under his rule." 

"You thought she would support, Arthur?" asked Merlin derisively. 

Agravaine drooped. "I had hoped so. Unfortunately, she's intractably convinced that Arthur is a copy of Uther." Agravaine stepped forward again, anticipation burning in his eyes. "You and I both know he's not. He's ready to accept a sorcerer, to accept magic. You can't imagine how excited I am by the prospect. It means that Uther's lost and Camelot can regain itself once the tyrant's reign ends. I want desperately to be part of that, Merlin. Arthur's never understood my motives because I've never dared share them for fear of Uther. But I would dare much now that I know my nephew will restore what was lost." 

"I don't believe you," whispered Merlin. 

Agravaine grinned internally, thinking he'd persuaded the servant against his will, but he kept his expression hopeful. "I have a present for the sorcerer, so he'll know I'm sincere. He'll be able to see that it's magic." Agravaine pulled a silver amulet from his wallet. He held it out to Merlin. "I have no magic of my own. The only way I could have this is if I'd been protecting it all these years. I want you to take it to him, Merlin. I'll tell Uther that I missed you." 

Merlin stared at the amulet for a moment, before raising his eyes to Agravaine's. Fury crashed behind his eyes as he rumbled coldly, "Or you could have gotten it from Morgana." Merlin threw the blankets he'd been holding all this time into Agravaine's face and shoved him out of the way to reach the door. 

Agravaine dropped the supposedly precious amulet and grabbed at the servant around the blankets, but he couldn't catch hold of him. Agravaine threw the blankets away and chased Merlin through the halls, hoping he'd head somewhere incriminating, somewhere that would give a clue as to the whereabouts of the sorcerer. He couldn't have been more disappointed when Merlin ran right into the audience chamber. 

***********************

Merlin wasn't about to take the amulet from Agravaine for fear that it might have been meant to harm a magic user and would expose him as the sorcerer the moment he touched it. He hadn't dared do anything other than run. But he had to wonder about his sanity in running straight to the King. True, Uther had sent for him and Agravaine wouldn't dare try anything in his presence but running into the audience chamber felt exactly like jumping from the frying pan directly into the flames. Merlin managed to skid to a stop one step behind and to the left of Sir Leon, whose presence would have been more comforting if Uther hadn't presently been haranguing him, undoubtedly on the subject of Arthur's sorcerer. 

Uther issued Merlin a furious glare and the servant asked contritely, "You wanted to see me, Sire?" 

"Out," Uther snapped at Sir Leon, who bowed slightly and went into the corridor, passing a slightly breathless Agravaine. "You too," Uther snapped at his brother-in-law. "I think I can handle one scrawny servant. And close the doors." 

Agravaine bowed reluctantly and signaled the door guards to close them. 

Uther glared at Merlin and went to sit on his throne. Merlin waited patiently regaining his breath until Uther had settled himself and motioned Merlin forward. Uther motioned him down and Merlin knelt a few feet in front of the throne. "Gaius seems to think that you're meant to be Arthur's protection against magic," rumbled the King. 

"I've done so many times, Sire," replied Merlin, dropping his eyes. 

"Have you?" his sharp voice a whiplash of command. 

"Yes," Merlin affirmed, boldly raising his gaze in response to Uther's tone. "There is more magic left in Camelot than you realize, Sire." 

"Which if you are truly meant to be a knight of this land, you should be concentrating on stamping out." 

Merlin shook his head. "That's not possible." 

"I've made a good start," snapped the King. 

"Mortal magic, yes, Sire, I would agree, but there is far more than that and even mortal magic is being born into a new generation." 

"Which only proves the need for renewed vigilance," insisted Uther. 

"Or perhaps it's time for a new approach," Merlin begged hopelessly. 

"Which is what you've convinced Arthur of with this sorcerer he's hired?" accused Uther. 

Merlin looked at the King steadily. "Arthur does what he chooses. I obey his commands." 

"Meaning that you abrogate responsibility if Arthur wanders into trouble on his own?" demanded the King scathingly. 

"Never," said Merlin vehemently. "I've pulled Arthur out of many traps he's managed to blunder into. But that doesn't mean I can stop him walking into them in the first place." 

"So you can at least see this sorcerer is a threat?" 

Merlin hesitated. "I'm confident that if he became one, he'd very quickly be dead." That wasn't a lie. He had no doubt that many of his friends would do what they had to to defend Camelot, even as he had when he'd poisoned Morgana. 

"So you do what? Wait and watch?" Uther rumbled, his voice grinding like two plates of stone slipping past each other. 

"I do as Arthur commands me, Sire." 

"And he commands your silence to me?" 

"Yes, Sire," Merlin affirmed, though Arthur had never actually given him any such order. 

"That's unfortunate," said Uther rising and calling in the guards. Sir Leon entered before them, brushing shoulders with Agravaine because neither would give the other pride of place. 

Uther took a half step closer to Merlin. "There is a guardsman in my dungeon whose skills I don't like to use. When he is done with you, you will tell me all that you know." He signaled the guards forward. "Take him." 


	4. Chapter 4

"Sire, you can't do this!" burst out Sir Leon as the guardsmen took hold of Merlin and lifted him to his feet. Dropping his voice, he said, "You gave your word." 

Furious at the criticism, Uther snapped, "And you gave yours to me. You are hardly one to lecture me on honor. I will give you a choice; you can tell me where Arthur's sorcerer is hiding, or you can escort his servant to the dungeon so that I can have it out of him. Which better preserves your oaths?" 

Feeling as though he'd been punched in the gut, Leon bowed slightly to the King in acknowledgement of his order and led the way out of the audience chamber. Lord Agravaine walked to his right, with Merlin following and two guards holding him by the arms. What would Merlin do to avoid torture? Kill the torturer, probably, and the two guards with them and Agravaine. Not that Leon wouldn't cheerfully carve Agravaine's heart out himself right now. A glance to the side was enough for Leon to notice the gleeful smirk Agravaine fought to conceal. The man was clearly a traitor, sowing dissension between King and Heir, the problem was proving it. 

Oh, why had Arthur agreed to go to the dungeon? To avoid a fight with his father, that was clear. He'd been avoiding it for a long time now. The inevitability of that conflict suddenly pressed itself on Sir Leon. The King saw only that Camelot was currently prosperous, but Leon was as familiar with its defenses as Arthur and knew how much had been lost in the last few years. Arthur had sent into Nementh and Mercia for farming families because they'd had to take so many men off the land for the army. If they kept loosing armsmen at this rate, they'd soon have to accept foreigners or pay for mercenaries, both sure ways to let in spies. 

Leon nearly missed the turn down the stairs with the intensity of his thoughts. He glanced behind him to cover his misstep. Merlin's brow was furrowed, doubtless with some plan to avoid the fate the King had decreed for him. Leon wasn't particularly worried about Merlin killing him. Merlin wouldn't want to kill a knight who was loyal to Arthur so probably wouldn't attack Leon as long as the knight didn't get in his way. But the two guardsmen with them were innocent of anything other than obedience to their King. Leon could order them away; argue that Agravaine and he could surely handle one servant on their own. He knew a good spot to ambush Agravaine as well. Then what? Hide Merlin, go into hiding with him? The King would undoubtedly round up Arthur's common born knights and kill them if he couldn't trust even Leon to obey. Not that any of them could be taken easily, but Leon could just imagine how many knights that would cost Camelot. Leon suddenly realized just how close they stood to a civil war. Their defensive resources already perilously depleted, such a conflict would make them easy meat for their enemies. 

Knowing how key Merlin was to those defenses, Leon wasn't about to turn him over for torture, but how well could he shield Camelot while he was being hunted? Leon ground his teeth. It was the knights' job to defend the kingdom. With that thought Leon came to a decision; they were going to have to. Reaching behind him just as they reached the first floor, Leon grabbed Merlin by the arm, drawing him away from the guardsmen who had held him, and turned to the left instead of continuing to the dungeon. Agravaine called out his name in protest. Leon answered, "We're making a stop on the way!" The two guards followed, as Leon knew they would. Agravaine might outrank him in the hierarchy of the land, but he wasn't in the army's chain of command and Sir Leon was. Merlin was looking at the knight quizzically, but followed along without objection. 

His heart in his throat at his own presumption, Leon came to the first of the knights' quarters and began pounding on doors, knowing that some of the knights would have retired after dinner. "Out! Out! Everyone to the knights' hall," he ordered. 

Knights began piling out of doors amid demands for what was going on. More knights looked out of the hall and were pushed back by those going in once they recognized Sir Leon as the one giving the order. Sir Kirkley ran down a set of stairs at the end of the corridor to an armory below and came back with half a dozen men. 

Someone grabbed Leon's shoulder. "You need all the knights?" asked Lancelot above the hubub, raising an eyebrow close to Leon's face. Leon confirmed that and Lancelot ran off on some errand instead of joining the others, but Leon had no time to worry about his defection. He pushed his way into the rapidly crowding hall. Leon made his way to a buttress at the center of the wall and shoved Merlin's back up against it, effectively putting the sorcerer in a corner. "Watch him," he ordered the guardsmen. 

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" demanded Agravaine, getting in Leon's face. 

Leon turned away without answering him and called the knights' attention. "Knights of Camelot! Knights of Camelot! The King has gone mad and it is we who will pay for that madness." 

Shocked protests sounded around him from the nearly forty knights who had gathered, most in their shirt sleeves but a few in armor. "What is that you say? Surely not! You speak treason!" 

"Listen to me!" demanded Leon. "Uther has given the Lady Morgana an estate and thrown Prince Arthur into the dungeon for consorting with a sorcerer. Could anything be more mad than to reward our enemies and imprison our greatest warrior?" 

Amid mumbles and grumbling, Sir Rexford called out, "The King is our anointed Lord. What would you have us do, Leon? Rise up in rebellion? Arthur acknowledges the King's rule, so must we." 

"There needn't be a rebellion if the knights are agreed that Arthur must take back the Regency for the good of the kingdom. The army will follow us," insisted Leon. 

"If we agree," said Sir Marhaus, the King's Senescal, an older but still vibrant knight with shocks of gray through his dark hair and beard, "but we do not. The King has lead us well for a quarter of a century. I'm not inclined to throw away the author of Camelot's prosperity." 

"Nor do I wish to," Leon assured him, assured them all. "The King is ill. He must step aside until he regains his senses or he'll bury the lot of us with his lunacy." 

"If you're afraid, Leon, by all means run away," drawled Sir Tremayne. 

Leon refused to rise to the bait but drew himself up proudly. "I am afraid. Afraid for Camelot. Afraid of the conflict I see tearing us apart and leaving us a rancid banquet for all comers to feast on." 

Marhaus laughed sharply. "Now you're just being over dramatic. Camelot is wealthy and well protected." 

Leon took a step towards him. "Yes, it is. But do you know why we have a King and not a Queen?" 

"Because we have the greatest knights in all of Albion," responded Marhaus dryly. 

"Really?" barked Leon. "I seem to remember rescuing you from Camelot's dungeon when Morgana crowned herself Queen." 

"Careful, Sir Leon," grated Sir Marhaus, lightly resting his hand on the hilt of a sword hung on the wall. "I'm not so old that I won't challenge you for your insults." 

Percival stepped forward, menacingly resting his own hand on the hilt at his side, but Leon reached out a hand, palm towards his comrade. "It's no insult to speak the truth," said Sir Leon firmly. "And the truth is that we do have the greatest knights in all of Albion. And it's also true that Morgana defeated us once with her magic." 

A murmur of unease passed through the hall. "Arthur rescued us," declared Sir Rexford. 

"Arthur was as surprised as I was when the immortal army disappeared," responded Sir Leon. "Camelot is still free because we have a sorcerer on our side, a powerful one." 

"You would put your faith in a sorcerer?" growled Sir Tremayne. 

Sir Leon blew a scoff through his lips. "I think he's the greatest liar in Camelot. He's had to be, to keep his head. But Arthur has him under his control now, and that satisfies me." 

Tremayne pounced. "So it's true that Arthur's hired a sorcerer?" 

"It's true. Arthur admitted as much to the King not an hour ago," affirmed Leon. He jerked his head in Merlin's direction. "And the King has ordered me to take Arthur's servant to the dungeon to torture the secret of the sorcerer's lair out of him. Oh, Merlin knows all about it. Undoubtedly the secret will come out of him with one touch of a red hot poker. And the King will do Morgana's work for her, dismantling our protection against magic." 

"What protection against magic?" demanded Tremayne 

"We've never seen evidence that we had any such," insisted Rexford. 

"But you have!" replied Leon, singling Rexford out with his point. "You fought against the skeletons that came alive inside Camelot's walls, and you saw them fall apart." 

"I thought that was Morgana's doing," exclaimed Marhaus. 

"Bringing them to life was," affirmed Leon. "She could claim to have banished them because the sorcerer who did couldn't claim the credit for fear of being burned at the stake." 

"So Morgana attacked Camelot twice?" asked Rexford. 

"Three times," said Leon. "The first being when the Knights of Medhir attacked. It was Morgana who put us all to sleep." 

"Arthur's sorcerer told you all this?" sneered Sir Marhaus. "A man you just called the greatest liar in Camelot?" 

"I don't trust his words, Marhaus. I trust his actions," declared Leon. "He saved the King's life despite the fact that Uther would kill him in an instant for his magic. That I witnessed with my own eyes. And there are enough other witnesses to be certain of the sorcerer's allegiance. Don't think that Arthur is being deceived in this." 

"That I'm being deceived in what?" asked Arthur, entering the room flanked by Lancelot and Gwaine. Knights made room for his passage. 

"We were just discussing your sorcerer," said Sir Marhaus disapprovingly. 

Arthur's eyes flicked involuntarily to where Merlin was clearly under guard. 

Leon stepped toward the Prince and said hastily, "Uther ordered me to take Merlin to the dungeon to have him tortured for information about the sorcerer." 

Arthur shook his head slowly. "I can't allow that." 

"Why?" demanded Marhaus. "Because you're under this sorcerer's spell and have to protect him?" 

Arthur turned toward the seneschal. "It's a question of honor and duty, Sir Marhaus. Questions which I'm wrestling with right now, as my Father has put me in a position where I'm finding it difficult to maintain either." 

"Your duty is to obey your King," snapped Marhaus. "The law decrees that any sorcerer must be put to death." 

"A law which my Father has set aside for a traitor who shows no sign of remorse," replied Arthur reasonably. 

"That does not give you the right to also set aside that law," argued Marhaus. 

"Oh bugger off, Marhaus," said Sir Botalf, rising from his seat where he'd so far been sitting quietly. "You and I both know that Uther isn't the man he was when we were squires, following our knights into the battle to conquer Camelot." 

"I know no such thing," sneered Marhaus. "You're just angry because the King canceled the garrison the Prince was having you build." 

Botalf stalked through the crowd towards his contemporary. "Can't you see how Uther withdraws into his own walls? Leon is right; this course will leave us easy meat for our enemies." 

"Gentlemen," interrupted Arthur, "It is the knights' job to defend Camelot and we will continue to do that admirably, I'm certain." 

"If we can," said Rexford, looking surprised at the words that had popped out of his own mouth. His brow furrowed in thought. "King Uther didn't attend Sir Inigo's pyre. He always comes, when a knight dies, but he didn't even want to acknowledge Inigo's death because it was Morgana who killed him. Didn't even remember to send a patrol to retrieve the body. He's done nothing to defend Camelot against her and you should have heard him screaming to stop the attack when it was Morgana's forces attacking us." Rexford lowered his head onto his arms. "I'm ashamed to say I'm afraid to serve under him." 

"Yes, well you can run off too," snarled Tremayne rising from his seat. "Arthur, how could you hire a sorcerer? They're all evil, you know that." 

"It wasn't my idea," grumbled Arthur. 

"What, what?" asked Marhaus. "If there's some problem with this sorcerer, you know we'd be glad to get rid of him for you, even if it takes all of us." 

"It's not like that," snapped Gwaine. 

Sir Marhaus looked Gwaine up and down insolently. "Sir Gwaine, I doubt you'd recognize an enchantment if you saw a sorcerer cast one, let alone recognize the signs." 

Gwaine drew his sword even as Arthur snapped, "Put it away! I won't have my knights fighting each other!" Sir Marhaus had grabbed for the one on the wall but hesitated to take it at Arthur's order. 

Gwaine resheathed his sword when he saw that Marhaus would obey. "Would you?" he demanded of the older knight scathingly. "You judge, but you don't ask. I've seen magic worked in other lands. I know what it can do." Gwaine glanced around, including everyone in his next remarks. "You whisper your fear of Morgana's magic because you know you can't defend against it; that it takes magic to defeat her greater spells. What you don't know is how long you've had magic on your side. You just need to learn how to work with it." 

"And why should I put my faith in the word of some pauper's son?" mocked Tremayne. 

Gwaine drew himself up proudly. "If you're finally bothering to ask a question, Tremayne, then know that my father was Sir Erbin of the army of Caerleon. And I know from experience that you don't want to work for a King who won't respect your death in his service." 

Silence fell. No one proclaimed Uther's respect for the knights who had died, because he hadn't shown such, not to those Morgana had killed. 

"But we can't," groaned Sir Kirkley, real fear pulling at the young knight's countenance. "We can't work with a sorcerer. He'd turn on us, go over to Morgana, or abandon us when we were counting on him. Sorcerers don't have honor like knights do." 

Sir Botalf snorted. "That's why you bind them. Though I'm not sure who you'd get to do it, Arthur. If any of the other Kings are keeping a sorcerer, they keep it quiet enough out of deference to Uther." 

"Exactly," agreed Marhaus. "It might be one thing if you could bind this sorcerer to you properly, Arthur…" 

"But he is," blurted Arthur, surprised into the admission. "That's why I'm having so much trouble. Mother bound him into my service before my birth. How can I execute him when he's saved my life multiple times, and defended all of Camelot from magical attacks for years?" 

Botalf chuckled. "Oh well, if Ygraine had the binding done, that's all right then. The Queen would have known how to go about it properly. Wonder where he's been hiding all this time waiting for you to grow up enough to protect him." 

"If my sister had done any such thing she surely would have told me," said Agravaine indignantly. 

"Not likely," said Botalf. "It was pretty obvious who Ygraine shared her secrets with and it wasn't you, Agravaine." 

Agravaine spluttered angrily. "In any case, that isn't what's under discussion. Of course, I'd support you if you wanted to retake the Regency, Arthur, but it's clear that you don't. And Uther will get your sorcerer one way or another, so you might just as well turn him over." 

"That's my choice?" asked Arthur looking stricken. 

"No," said Sir Leon. "That's our choice. If the knights will support you for the Regency then you should take it, Arthur. If not enough of us will, and it needs to be nearly all," Leon paused for a staggered breath, "you should leave Camelot." 

Protests raged around the room, quieting only when Arthur bellowed, "Enough!" He waited for the knights to settle before turning to Sir Leon. "I can't leave." 

"It's been done before, Highness," said Kay, "when King and Heir could not agree." 

"Sire, please, you can't leave," begged Sir Kirkley. "Sir Leon is right that the King isn't making much sense. You're the man who's holding Camelot together." 

"Uther's policies will ruin Camelot," insisted Leon. "You're better off preparing to ride to the rescue than continuing the friction between you that Morgana is sure to exploit. I am with you whatever you decide to do, Arthur, but I'd rather you retook the Regency." 

"Agreed," chimed in Gwaine, "I swore my oaths to you, Arthur, not Uther, and I'm not following that madman." 

"I agree with Sir Leon," said Sir Marhaus drily. "You should leave, Arthur. It's clear you won't obey your father, and Camelot cannot have two Kings." 

"If you go, I go with you," snorted Sir Botalf. "There are several friendly kings who'd host you. I can help you raise an army from the younger sons. That's what Uther did." 

"I'm not fighting my Father," said Arthur determinedly. 

"Who said anything about fighting Uther?" asked Botalf. "Morgana will have him back in a dungeon inside of a month and you'll have to rescue him again, if she doesn't just decide to kill him outright this time." 

Arthur looked stricken at this assertion while the argument continued to rage around him. 

"If the sorcerer is in, I'm out," averred Sir Tremayne, slapping the table next to him. "I am not working with some abhorrent sorcerer." 

"I will," piped up Sir Kirkley, fear still touching the young knight's eyes. "At least Arthur's got something of a plan. Uther will let Morgana kill us all." 

"Coward," spat Sir Coel, Sir Kirkley's next older brother. "How'd you ever earn your honors? Father will have your hide." 

"Then he'll have to come after mine too," sighed Sir Elcwith, the oldest of the three, rising from the table he'd been sitting on and approaching Sir Leon. "You've met this man? You vouch for him?" 

Leon nodded. "We've been sparing with him, to learn how to deal with Morgana. Believe me, if he wasn't on our side, Arthur and Uther would both have died long ago and Morgana would be Queen." 

Sir Elcwith grimaced. "Your word is good enough for me. I'd rather serve under a King who keeps a sorcerer than serve under a sorcerer." 

"Oh!" groaned Sir Coel, sitting down petulantly. "Fine, I'm not fighting against both my brothers." 

"You overestimate the importance of one man," frowned Sir Marhaus at Sir Leon. 

"No, you underestimate the need for magic to fight magic," said Arthur. 

"We've never needed it before," retorted Marhaus. 

"Ha!" said Botalf. "Yes we did, to take Camelot. Much of Camelot's magic was used up in that battle. And even after Uther declared magic illegal, he used those who'd turn on their own for gold." 

"Hsst," warned Marhaus. 

"Oh, hush yourself, Marhaus," boiled Botalf. "You know it's true. Arthur's not a little bitty princeling to be protected from the realities of ruling a kingdom. These others would do well to know it too instead of believing that might of arms is all their sainted fathers used to overcome magic." 

"So we really do need a sorcerer?" asked Sir Kirkley tentatively. 

"You go ask your father and tell him if he doesn't tell you the truth, I will," Botalf assured him. Catching Marhaus' eye, he continued, "Uther's got himself convinced that he's never used magic but just because he ignored the sorcerers as much as possible doesn't mean they weren't there. Don't tell me you're delusional too." 

Marhaus refused to meet Sir Botalf's gaze. "I remember what happened." 

Botalf snapped, "Then stop acting like you don't! Uther stopped using magic when he thought he'd destroyed all the most powerful sorcerers or sent them deep into hiding. Well, the next generation's shown up and we're the ones missing a vital weapon. If Arthur can bring us back up to full strength, then he's got my support!" 

"You already know you've got the support of all of us who've met your sorcerer," said Percival stolidly, Lancelot, Leon, Kay, Elyan, and Gwaine agreeing heartily. 

"Stay, Arthur," said Sir Rexford, looking drawn. "Become the Regent. I'm not happy about there being a sorcerer involved, but Morgana's already overrun Camelot once. You're the only one who can prevent her return. If anyone's under a spell, it's Uther." 

One by one the knights voiced their support for Arthur; some agreeing on the advice of another knight whose judgment they trusted more than their own, many seeming shocked by their own words. 

"Are you all out of your minds?" demanded Tremayne distraught. "What have we been fighting against all this time?" Tremayne grabbed Arthur by the arms. "Arthur you can't have a sorcerer. They're all evil. Doesn't Morgana prove that?" 

Arthur took the other knight by the shoulders and patted firmly. "Morgana's afraid." He put the knight aside and looked around the room. "Many of you knew Morgana for years and you've seen her in her panics. How many times did you see the fear in her eyes? I know I saw it too many times and I never understood it. How could she not turn on us, knowing that she'd be killed the minute her secret was out? How easy for Morgause to turn her when honesty would have been her death? My Father thinks Morgana will give up her magic and come back to us. I'm not even sure it's possible for her to give up her magic." 

"It's been done before," growled Marhaus feebly. 

"That doesn't mean it's possible for every sorcerer," said Arthur. "But even if it was, at this point Morgana's chosen her path. I have to choose mine. I can't oppose her effectively without magic and I've found someone who has it who I trust. I wish Morgana would have trusted me. I think I could have helped her find a better way. But I'll be dammed if I'm going to let her destroy everything I love because she couldn't." He took a deep breath. "With your support, I'm taking back the Regency." 

"Arthur!" called Leon punching his fist into the air, beginning a chant. Arthur's knights joined in, then Botalf, Agravaine, Rexford, Sir Kirkley and his brothers. The rest of the knights joined in, gaining confidence as they chanted. 

Sir Tremayne dropped onto a bench, looking shattered. "I won't oppose you," he said before dropping his face into his hands. 

Sir Marhaus stared at Arthur, a stare which Arthur returned before finally raising an eyebrow in question. Marhaus tilted his head and dropped his chin in acquiescence. 

Arthur walked around the room catching eyes, shaking hands, accepting pats on the back and assurances of support. Briefly his gaze found Merlin, wide eyed, clearly terrified at what had just happened. 

***********************

Arthur spent an hour chatting with his knights, reassuring those who needed it, explaining what he felt were the greatest needs and how he meant to address them, but mostly listening. Sometime in that hour, he ordered Merlin to get him some ale and the guards watching the servant took that as their dismissal. If the servant's hand shook as he handed the tankard to his Lord, Arthur ignored it. The crowd shifted some in that hour, with knights going to relieve those who were on duty so they could also have their say. It rather surprised Arthur that Uther wasn't informed of what was going on, though the fact that Kay had painted himself to Agravaine's side like a glowering shadow might have had something to do with that. 

When the talk between the knights started to die down, Arthur judged that they had said all that was needed and that it was time to inform the King of his decision. There was just one thing to do first. "Merlin," he called. The servant/sorcerer turned haunted eyes to his Lord. "Go to my quarters and wait for me there," Arthur said sternly. "I mean it. You're not to leave until I come." 

Merlin nodded tightly and left the knight's hall. Gwaine glanced between the two of them and followed after Merlin, concern wrinkling his brow. Arthur frowned after them and got the knights moving. He didn't want Merlin involved between himself and his Father any further. Even if things went wrong, especially if things went wrong, he had to know that magic hadn't influenced this conversation. Arthur's suspicions nagged at him as he mounted the stairs, but he couldn't show them to his men. Anything less than absolute confidence would make a bollix of this situation, and even that assured nothing. When Arthur and most of the Knights of Camelot reached the audience chamber, a servant informed him that the King had just retired for the night. Arthur debated for a moment the wisdom of letting Uther sleep and tackling him in the morning, but he knew there was no wisdom in delay. So he rapped at his Father's bedroom door, the knights filling the corridor behind him. 

When Uther barked permission to enter, Arthur signaled Sir Leon and Sir Marhaus to enter with him, their positions in the royal household making them the most appropriate to represent the knight's opinions. The wrinkles at the corners of Marhaus' eyes became more pronounced and Arthur briefly wondered if Uther could talk him back around to his side, but the knight had agreed that Arthur should retake the Regency and the Prince would trust him to be firm in that resolution. 

A servant was just hanging Uther's cloak in the wardrobe, the King's crown having been set aside into its velvet lined drawer. Two undrunk medicine vials on the bedside table gave evidence that Gaius had been and gone. Uther's gloves were in his hands as he stared at his son in shock. "Arthur!" 

"Leave us," said Arthur to the servant, who bowed his way out when the seneschal glared at him, reinforcing the Prince's order. 

"And what is the meaning of this?" demanded Uther drawing himself up, but it was Marhaus he addressed, not his son. 

Arthur answered anyway. "I'm retaking the Regency, Father. You are not well enough to reign." 

Uther's mouth worked in anger. "I'm not certain how you got out of the dungeon, though I suspect, but you are returning there now. Guards!" Uther stared when the door remained closed. "Guards!" 

"No one is coming, Father," said Arthur quietly. "I am Regent now. The knights have agreed and will support me. I will speak to the council in the morning." 

"And am I to languish in my own dungeon now?" demanded the King. 

"You will remain here, Father," said Arthur mildly, determined to act as though his Regency was simply a fait acompli instead of the struggle he knew he was in for. "Be happy I do no more when you are forsworn, but I believe you are too ill to know what you are doing and I want you to recover." 

"Forsworn?" demanded the King incredulously. "Over a servant? That's your excuse?" 

Arthur's voice carried a note of warning. "Over the defense of Camelot from a magical force. Let's say sending Merlin for torture was a tiny step too far, Father, after far too many poor decisions." 

"Poor decisions!" exploded Uther. "Who are you to judge?" 

"Your heir," replied Arthur tightly, tensing despite his resolve. "You're confined to your quarters, Father. I don't know any other way to keep you safe." 

Uther began to pace, gesticulating wildly, his knuckles white around the leather gloves in his hand. "You want my throne, as much as… This has happened in royal families before; children clamoring for their inheritance before they could ever be ready for it. I never thought it could happen in mine. You were always…" He stopped short and turned sharply, staring into his son's eyes. He put his hands up, approaching his son cautiously, his adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed. "You're under a spell, of course you are. This sorcerer you think you've hired…" 

"No sorcerer can control all of the knights," said Arthur, sincerely hoping that was true, "and they're supporting my decision. You are unwell." 

"He doesn't have to control all the knights, just you," insisted Uther. 

Arthur sighed, "That's being watched for, Father." 

Uther turned to Marhaus. "Did he tell you about this? That he's hired a sorcerer, or thinks he has?" 

Marhaus nodded awkwardly. "The Prince admitted it." 

"And you'll still go along with this?" demanded the King. 

"All the knights know, Sire," said Sir Leon. 

Uther's jaw dropped open in shock. 

"My King," said Marhaus gently, uncomfortably, "all the knights that are presently within the citadel know. Some are unhappy with the Prince's policies, including myself, but in light of your leniency toward the Lady Morgana, we hardly feel that we have a choice but to support him." 

"Including you?" demanded Uther. 

Marhaus nodded, looking ashamedly at his feet and Uther turned away just enough to exclude him. Marhaus held out a hand in an effort to explain. "It's the deaths, Sire. You won't even acknowledge those who died by Morgana's hand." 

"They failed," Uther said sharply. "They should have brought her home." 

Marhaus dropped his hand, his face as red as though he'd been slapped. 

"That's not realistic, Father," said Arthur, still attempting to be reasonable. "Morgana has attacked Camelot multiple times." 

Uther's jaw dropped and tightened as though he was about to bite more than the words that came out of his mouth. " ** _Morgause_** attacked Camelot. Morgana is her pawn, nothing more. When she sees that, she will return to us. She is my daughter, she deserves some consideration." 

"She'll have it," Arthur assured him, "but she's to stay on her estate. If she's caught off her own property, her life is forfeit." 

Hot angry tears rolled down Uther's face. "Your own sister?" 

Arthur tensed visibly with repressed emotion. "My half sister, who crowned herself Queen, threw you in the dungeon and abducted me, not to mention all the knights she's murdered. I will give her a chance to repent because you will it, Father, but she will have to show signs of contrition and obedience." 

Uther choked, "Your sorcerer…" 

Arthur cut him off, "Is very obedient and if that changes he will be very dead. I'm perfectly willing to set aside the laws against magic." Uther whipped away from him again. "Or just set up exceptions, which Morgana could be one of if she repents, but she must show remorse. I can't just excuse her; she has too much blood on her hands." 

Uther threw the gloves he'd been tearing at on the bed and ran his hands through his hair. "I'll go to her." 

"No," refused Arthur. "If you want to communicate with Morgana, send Agravaine. She hasn't killed him yet, though I have my suspicions as to why." 

"I have to talk to her myself!" 

"No," said Arthur firmly, steel in his voice. 

He turned sharply to face his son. "You can not stop me. I am the King!" 

"Which is exactly why you are not going. You are too valuable a hostage in her hands." 

"She is my daughter! I must…" 

"You have two sons who are actually loyal to you." Arthur interrupted, becoming frustrated. Both Leon and Marhaus startled at this assertion. 

"I'd hardly call this loyalty!" Uther yelled before dropping his voice to a low growl, "and you are never to bring him up again in my presence." 

"Of course I'll bring him up again," Arthur snapped. "He's a knight under my command and he deserves better from you." 

Uther seethed, "I don't need a substitute for my daughter. I need her." 

"She's made her choices, Father," said Arthur, stridently. "She chose Morgause." 

Uther flung himself at his son, hands reaching for his throat. Arthur grabbed his wrists forcing his hands away. Leon and Marhaus each grabbed an arm and the three of them forced the resisting monarch into a chair. "Out! Out!" screamed Uther, kicking frantically. "Leave me in peace, if nothing else!" 

Arthur released his Father and stepped back. The two knights followed suit. Uther hung his head, defeated. 

Arthur turned to Sir Marhaus. He ordered, "Clear the room of weapons. Otherwise, Father is to have the best of everything." Arthur watched his Father's bowed head for a moment, then turned and left, his duties for the night far from over. 

He stalked down the corridor to his chambers, turning over what his Father had said in his mind. He'd assured the King that no sorcerer could control all of the knights, but if any sorcerer could, it would be Merlin. Arthur hadn't found his limits yet and that bothered him. What couldn't the sorcerer do? 

Laughter echoed from Arthur's chamber and Arthur shoved open the door to find Gwaine sitting with his feet propped up on the table, guffawing mightily, Merlin staring at him, hands on his hips and face beet red. "What are you doing, Gwaine?" snapped the Prince, letting the door fall closed behind him. 

"Witnessing," said Gwaine, dropping his feet to the floor and rising at Arthur's entrance, a silver amulet sliding on its chain between his fingers. "Isn't that what you wanted us to do? Merlin came straight to your room and hasn't left, as per your orders. Whatever went on between you and the King, he had nothing to do with it." 

Arthur huffed in irritation that Gwaine had anticipated him so, but he was as glad of it as he was annoyed. Merlin was still too much of a question without answers. "Step out, Gwaine. I want to talk to Merlin alone, but I may need you back. Gwaine dropped his feet to the floor and went out with a quick grin at each of them. 

Merlin shrank back from his master as the door shut behind the knight. Arthur stalked him across the room until Merlin's back hit the wall. Arthur laid his hands on the wall behind Merlin on either side of the sorcerer's head. "What did you do to my knights?" growled Arthur. 

"Nothing!" insisted Merlin, squirming so that he seemed to be trying to become one with the wall but his gaze was direct and terrified. "Your bloody knights did it all themselves. Leon had two guardsmen watching me the whole time. There was nothing I could do except stand there and hope I didn't get torn to pieces when someone opened their big mouth and revealed me as the sorcerer." 

"You didn't use magic?" 

"No!" 

Arthur scowled at his sorcerer. "Some of them looked pretty surprised at what was popping out of their mouths." 

"You looked pretty surprised too, but **_I didn't do it_** ," stressed Merlin, his voice becoming higher and more panicked. "I couldn't do it and I wouldn't do it. What, do you think I can put words into a man's mouth like a ventriloquist? I can't." 

"Alright, alright, calm down. I believe you," frowned Arthur. 

"You don't believe me though, do you Arthur?" demanded Merlin, his eyes still wide with alarm. "You still worry that my magic will corrupt me, no matter what I say or what binds me. And only the gods know what the knights think of my powers after what Leon said." 

Arthur took hold of his servant's shoulders trying to steady him and realized that Merlin was shivering. "Calm down, Merlin," ordered the Prince, unnerved himself by the sorcerer's terror; knowing fear was a more powerful enemy than almost anything else one could face and that it was his responsibility to help his knights combat it. Gaius' words came back to him and his own resolution to treat Merlin as one of his knights, albeit an unconventional one. He knew how much damage a beserked knight could do in his madness and how much damage Merlin could do when he got angry. What could happen if Merlin lost control? The curtains lit on fire? The town flooded? The castle shaken to its foundations? 

"I can't calm down," spluttered Merlin, hyperventilating. "The knights are afraid of me and so are you, but at the same time you're all expecting me to be this perfect magical protector. Do you know how many times I've lost to Morgana and Morgause or other magical threats? And when I loose, people die. Sometimes they die even when I win. I can't do this, Arthur." 

The Prince briefly considered slapping his servant hard enough to make his ears ring, but doubted that would help him compose himself. So Arthur did the one thing he thought might. He wrapped his arms around his friend and pulled him close, squeezing him tightly. 

Merlin let out a shocked breath in reaction, before laying his arms lightly around Arthur's shoulders. 

His eyes bright, Arthur smiled at his servant from way too close, "One thing at a time, Merlin. Do you really think you scare me?" 

"Yes," replied Merlin bitingly, despite his shock at Arthur's behavior. 

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "And what do I usually do with things that scare me?" 

"Kill them," said Merlin certainly. 

Arthur loosened his hold enough to rub Merlin's back. "Does it seem to you that I'm planning to kill you at the moment?" 

"Uh. No?" squeaked Merlin hopefully. 

"Ergo, not scared," said Arthur. Burying any misgivings about sorcerery deep, he leaned his forehead against Merlin's, and stared confidently into the sorcerer's eyes. He pulled away again and dropped one arm to lead Merlin over to the fireplace, hoping the heat would also help soothe him. "Second, my knights are not afraid of you, they are afraid of some mythical sorcerer they've never met. If they knew it was you, they'd laugh themselves hoarse." 

Merlin grimaced. "That's comforting," he said ironically. 

Arthur grinned briefly, seeing that Merlin was regaining his composure. He casually leaned against the mantle and his expression solemnized as he moved on in his points. "Third, people die in battles and not all battles can be won." 

Merlin shivered and dropped his eyes. 

Arthur lifted his chin with two fingers, forcing Merlin to meet his eyes. "But the only sure way to loose is to go to the battle convinced you will." 

Merlin blinked at his master. "I thought you were upset with me?" 

Arthur sighed. "I'm upset with a lot of things right now, not the least that I couldn't find some other way to deal with Father." 

"That's not your fault, Arthur." 

Arthur rubbed the back of his neck. "Like a lot of things lately, it's Morgana's fault. That doesn't mean that I shouldn't be able to deal with Father better." 

"You aren't perfect either, Arthur." 

Arthur gave a short laugh. "Really? You think the knights are expecting you to be perfect? What do you think they expect of me?" 

Merlin laid a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I will do everything I can to help." 

Arthur looked into Merlin's blue eyes and saw his confidence restored. "You know, between the two of us, we might just manage to live up to everyone's expectations, or at least most of them." 

Merlin chuckled and Arthur joined in in relief. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had hoped to be posting story #11 for Christmas, but at my current speed, that doesn’t seem likely. Anyone who’s ever been crazy enough to beta for me knows that I don’t write sequentially and just because I’m working on one chapter today doesn’t mean I won’t be working on an earlier or later chapter tomorrow, with several missing scenes in between. So even though I have about 40,000 words written between stories 9, 10 and 11, none are in any shape to be read. They will be eventually, I’m just not sure when. But here’s the summary for #9 – A Very Pretty Monster:
> 
> _Uther is not about to sit quietly in his room and let Arthur rule Camelot. Trust him to make trouble. And when King Olaf arrives with a still bespelled Vivian in tow, Arthur finds that he may as well be ruling the Madhouse!_
> 
> While you’re waiting, keep writing! I read quite a bit on AO3, preferably G or T rated and fluffy. :-)


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